YIKES: The Secretary of State Just Flat-Out said Trump Doesn't Speak for America
This is pretty shocking.
From Business Insider:
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace pointed out that a United Nations committee criticized Trump’s apparent defense of some people at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month.
Though Tillerson denied that Trump’s rhetoric made it difficult to defend American diplomacy abroad, he refused to deny that he was attempting to distance himself and the state department from Trump’s comments.
“I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values, or the commitment of the American government, or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values,” Tillerson said.
“And the president’s values?” Wallace asked.
“The president speaks for himself, Chris,” Tillerson replied.
How big a deal is this? Even Fox News personalities and longtime Republican operatives are openly slack-jawed right now:
Rex Tillerson, asked by Chris Wallace if the President’s speaks for American values on race, “The President speaks for himself.” Whoa.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) August 27, 2017
I do believe that the Secretary of State just tossed the President of the United States under the bus. https://t.co/krcHL3L1TS
— Eliot A Cohen (@EliotACohen) August 27, 2017
The video itself is even more stark:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Chris Wallace on the President’s values: “The President speaks for himself” @FoxNewsSunday pic.twitter.com/6wnD3i0kdE
— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) August 27, 2017
With senior administration officials like Gary Cohn openly distancing themselves from the President’s defense of white supremacists, the Trump administration appears to be in more disarray than ever:
Sounds like Tillerson is now a member of the #NotMyPresident crew https://t.co/OKgReXBADq
— Symone D. Sanders (@SymoneDSanders) August 27, 2017
SecState Tillerson: Trump speaks for himself, not for US values or for US government. Astonishing. pic.twitter.com/SnbST6hZw2
— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) August 27, 2017
It says something that this interview represents the high point of Rex Tillerson’s tenure at the State Department. https://t.co/Ygqa0yIcYf
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 27, 2017