Don’t dismiss Rex Tillerson just yet. The secretary of state denied rumors that he was leaving the administration.
“It’s laughable,” Tillerson told reporters who asked about the story.
The reports that Tillerson’s career is on tenterhooks have been around for a long time. Nearly every political expert expects him to be out of a job by the new year. If that’s true, Tillerson has a masterful poker face.
Presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway commented on his future as well.
“Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, is coming to lunch here today, scheduled to have lunch with the president today. That was already on the books. Everybody serves at the pleasure of the president, and everybody who was serving yesterday is serving today,” Conway said.
“It’s in a bunch of papers and, you know, I guess we don’t have an answer today.”
Friday was a chaotic day for the Trump administration. Mike Flynn outed himself as a criminal and the Mueller investigation surged forth. Tax reform trembled on the edge of being passed.
Tillerson’s possible dismissal still managed, however, to be a major story. Trump’s cabinet has endured a lot of turmoil since January. Democrats claim that Trump lacks the government experience to run the White House.
Even those who predicted that Tillerson would be fired thought that he probably wouldn’t leave his post until the new year. Trump has no desire to embarrass him, and scurrying away in December wouldn’t reflect well on his reputation.
If Tillerson isn’t lying, he’s going to be in Washington for a long time.
(Source: New York Post)