WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday distanced himself – and the nation — from President Trump’s response to the white…
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday distanced himself – and the nation — from President Trump’s response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va. implying it’s out of step with American ideals.
“The president speaks for himself, ” Tillerson told “Fox News Sunday” when asked if the president represents American values.
Trump initially condemned hatred and bigotry on “many sides” after a white nationalist demonstration Aug. 12 led to the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer, 32. The president added at a press conference there were “very fine people” on both sides in the Charlottesville demonstrations.
In response, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination took the unusual step to call out the US for its “failure at the highest political level to unequivocally reject racist violent events.”
Tillerson said the international community should not doubt Americans’ true values.
“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 when asked about the UN rebuke.
Fox News’ Chris Wallace responded: “And the president’s values?”
“The President speaks for himself, ” Tillerson said.
“Are you separating yourself from that, sir?, ” Wallace asked.
“I have spoken, ” Tillerson said. “I have made my own comments as to our values as well in a speech I gave to the State Department this past week.”
Tillerson’s response is the latest signs of division of how the Charlottesville violence has divided the GOP and Trump’s inner circle. Economic adviser Gary Cohn reportedly had drafted his resignation letter after Trump blamed “both sides” on the violence.
Cohn issued a public rebuke, however, in an interview with the Financial Times where he said “citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and the KKK.”
The Administration “must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups, ” Cohn, who is Jewish, said.
After Charlottesville, two White House aides — Stephen Bannon and Sebastian Gorka – left the Trump Administration and returned to Breitbart News, an online site associated with the far-right, nationalist movement.
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