Tillerson Disses Trump’s Charlottesville Comments: ‘The President Speaks for Himself’
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is separating himself from President Trump, stressing Sunday that "the president speaks for himself" on hot-button topics like Charlottesville, Va.
Asked about Trump's comments in Phoenix that placed blame on the media for giving white nationalists a platform, Tillerson opted against defending the comments, and instead stressing his thoughts are different.
He appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. Here's a transcript:
WALLACE: Finally, and I got a little over a minute left, the controversy over the racial protest in Charlottesville and the president's response to it has become an international issue. A U.N. committee this week criticized the Trump administration for, quote, its failure at the highest political level to unequivocally reject and condemn the racist violent events and demonstrations.
And here was the president in Phoenix this week talking more about the media than he was about the neo-Nazis and the Klan. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Does that make it harder for you to push American values around the world when some foreign leaders question president's values?
REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Chris, we express America's values from the State Department. We represent the American people. We represent America's values, our commitment to freedom, our commitment to equal treatment to people the world over. And that message has never changed.
WALLACE: And when the president gets into the kind of controversy he does and the U.N. committee response the way it does, it seems to say they begin to doubt are -- whether we're living those values.
TILLERSON: 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.
WALLACE: And the presidents values?
TILLERSON: The president speaks for himself, Chris.
WALLACE: Are you separating yourself from that, sir?
TILLERSON: I've spoken – I've made my own comments as to our vales as well in a speech I gave to the State Department this past week.
WALLACE: Mr. Secretary, thank you. Thanks for coming today. Always a pleasure to talk with you, sir.
TILLERSON: My pleasure, Chris.
