Beleaguered Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged in a closed-door meeting with U.S. diplomats on Tuesday that Russia “interfered in democratic processes here,” something President Trump still describes as “fake news” intended to delegitimize his presidency.
It’s a precarious position for Tillerson to take, even privately. Tillerson’s job is on thin ice, as rumors swirl that he will be swapped out for CIA director Mike Pompeo. Within the department, Tillerson’s support is wafer-thin, as diplomats have come to see his purpose as hollowing out U.S. diplomacy.
Publicly, Tillerson has been a bit more circumspect about the Kremlin question. In April, Tillerson called the “question of Russian interference” in the election something that was “fairly well-established.” In August, Tillerson told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that the election meddling engendered “serious mistrust between our two countries.”
Nor was Tillerson’s acknowledgement about Russian interference in the 2016 election the only departure from Trump’s positions.
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“He is fucking tone deaf and has zero awareness of how miserable many people are,” the diplomat told The Daily Beast.
“He is so fucking patronizing. He’s talking about making sure everyone can achieve their potential. … he is saying he enjoys the people, getting to know the people, which is a total bag of shit.”
