Trump: Tillerson Is “Dumb as a Rock”

Trump: Tillerson Is “Dumb as a Rock”

Trump: Tillerson Is “Dumb as a Rock”

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke about his contentious relationship with President Trump at a charity event in Houston. He should’ve stuck with nice sounding platitudes about raising money for cancer research and avoided casting shade on the Commander in Chief. 

Tillerson said

the president acts on instincts, which was starkly different than his own style. He said Mr. Trump “doesn’t like to read,” and is “pretty undisciplined.

Why is it that everyone wants to take issue with whether Trump reads or not? I assume he CAN read, so beyond that how he takes in his information is up to him. By his age, I would guess he’s got down how he best operates. And besides, reading? That’s what the cabinet, staff, aides, and assistants are there for! Tell him what’s going on! Summarize it, give him the options, the angles! For Pete’s sake, why is the president supposed to read everything? He wouldn’t be getting much done if he were, because Lord knows the kind of pages they can produce in Washington. Failing to read was apparently not a problem when they passed the Affordable Care Act!

And undisciplined? What does that even mean? That he’s more comfortable operating in a kinetic environment instead of one where lots of nothing gets done? He reportedly gets up early, stays up late, attends umpteen campaign rallies in as many days, and energetically runs circles around candidates half his age. So who is the undisciplined one? So far, Trump’s instincts have proven to be very good on policy, though on personnel he’s had some bummers. Looking at you, Tillerson. Assuming his approach is the only approach is Tillerson’s failure. No imagination, no progress.

Tillerson went on to make two more generalizations that the media will run with without any explanation of what he meant, and they will do further damage to the ability of this country to move froward in a positive way. Tillerson said he doesn’t share common values with Trump – what values are those? Maybe Tillerson’s values are crap? Does Tillerson hate America? Because I know Trump loves America. Maybe it’s a good thing Trump doesn’t share his values! But we are left with the impression that Tillerson has values and Trump does not. This kind of sweeping elitist damnation without support has gotten mighty old.

The second sweeping statement which is left to the public to fill in the meaning is when Tillerson says

“So often, the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law,” he said in an interview with CBS’s Bob Schieffer.

Examples please? What did the president want to do that violated the law? And what was it that he thought should be changed in Congress? Maybe he’s right! Anyone knows there are a lot of laws we don’t need and that are bad for the country. Like the Affordable Care Act! That nobody read! Just stop with these holier than thou statements.

Tillerson should remember what his momma probably taught him: If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.

The corollary to that saying is: He didn’t start the fight, but he will finish it.

Rex Tillerson started it, and Donald Trump finished it. Will no one ever learn not to get into a mud slinging match with Trump? His Twitter thumbs are a quick draw! Don’t provoke! Because it is always the person who swung first that ends up looking like the bigger jerk.

Here’s how Trump finished it:

Trumpy don’t play dat. His counter is more than twice as hard as the original punch.

This episode just goes to show that Tillerson truly wasn’t right for the job. He has no understanding of how Trump works, and how to maneuver relationships (compare this to Nikki Haley’s extremely successful run at the UN!). That a Secretary of State couldn’t get along with his own president shows his lack of diplomacy and skill at persuasion. Just being a nice guy, which Tillerson seems to wear as his persona, does not a great Secretary of State make. Good riddance.

Featured photo: Creative Commons

Written by

1 Comment
  • GWB says:

    “So often, the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it and I would have to say to him, Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law,”
    OK, I’m betting LOTS of presidents have faced that since the explosion in federal law and regulation since the early 20th century. The question is, did he listen? Because at least a couple of presidents have NOT, and just went ahead and did things (with a pen and a phone, for example) that were illegal and unconstitutional and then got slapped down by the courts (or even impeached).

    I’m not so sure I agree with your post, but your argument is a valid one, made by so many that support Trump – and really not grasped by those who oppose him. Trump’s hard-hitting nature is why people voted for him – regardless of his wealth and social status, he comes across as a bubba in many ways. He comes across as honest, in the senses of “without dissimulation; frank” and “worthy of being depended on”. He bullshits, but he doesn’t lie. (Yes, there’s a difference, if you talk to a “deplorable”.)

    (Reasons I don’t agree: I think it *is* important to read, for various reasons; I would want to read *some* of what my staff briefed me on, to keep them honest and make sure they weren’t Yes-man-ing me; acting on instinct *will* get you in trouble in the long run; Trump has certainly demonstrated a certain lack of discipline, and it has made things harder than they needed to be at times.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe
Become a Victory Girl!

Are you interested in writing for Victory Girls? If you’d like to blog about politics and current events from a conservative POV, send us a writing sample here.
Ava Gardner
gisonboat
rovin_readhead