Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised eyebrows Sunday with his curt reply that President Trump “speaks for himself,” when asked about his boss's values.
But Tillerson is just the latest Cabinet member or top adviser appearing to put distance between himself and the commander-in-chief – complicating the president's task as he tries to unify both his own team and Republicans in Congress behind his agenda.
The response from Tillerson reflects how the president's handling of the violence in Charlottesville continues to reverberate weeks later.
America's top diplomat was asked on "Fox News Sunday" whether he has a tougher time pushing American values when some foreign leaders question Trump's values. When he said nobody doubts the American people's values, host Chris Wallace pointedly asked about the president's.
"The president speaks for himself, Chris," Tillerson said.
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Tillerson is not alone.
Just last week, Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn said he has faced pressure to leave the administration and went so far as to draft a resignation letter, a source with knowledge of the situation told Fox News. Cohn subsequently met with the president and decided to stay -- but sounded off in an interview with the Financial Times.
“As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting ‘Jews will no replace us’ to cause this Jew to leave his job,” Cohn told the newspaper, adding that the Trump administration “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities.”
Trump came under fire for blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., where a counter-protester was killed during a white supremacist rally. The president also specifically condemned neo-Nazis and has since argued that the media have ignored that rebuke.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/28/cracks-in-cabinet-tillerson-others-seen-distancing-themselves-from-trump.html
