We discussed this a bit in the morning thread, but it warrants further examination and derision. Via NBC News:
Tillerson’s Fury at Trump Required an Intervention From Pence
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time.
The tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led, the officials said.
Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a “moron,” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident.
I don’t know about y’all, but for me, “was on the verge of resigning” is right up there with “Ivanka privately opposed” and “John Kelly was displeased” as useless-ass information that fails spectacularly in reassuring me about the character of the people surrounding Trump. To paraphrase Yoda, “Resign, or resign not. There is no verge.” More on MoronGate:
While it’s unclear if he was aware of the incident, Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump, and other top administration officials urged him to remain in the job at least until the end of the year, officials said.
Officials said that the administration, beset then by a series of high-level firings and resignations, would have struggled to manage the fallout from a Cabinet secretary of his stature departing within the first year of Trump’s presidency.
Pence has since spoken to Tillerson about being respectful of the president in meetings and in public, urging that any disagreements be sorted out privately, a White House official said. The official said progress has since been made.
St. Paul in a Speedo, has there ever been a more servile toady than Mike Fucking Pence? His fawning devotion is all the more nauseating since it’s a moral certainty that Pence would shiv Trump and use the bloated carcass as the Oval Office welcome mat if he thought he could get away with it. It may well come to that, and Mother would make a splendid homespun Lady Macbeth if it does.
I’m also glad the NBC report mentions that the administration was “beset by a series of high-level firings and resignations.” My feeling is that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. It’s kind of unprecedented, isn’t it — the revolving door in this White House? I mean, it’s not unexpected; organizations that are headed up by a walking collection of untreated personality disorders often experience high turnover. But for the historical record, let’s not let that go by the boards unremarked.
Anyhoo, just as I was typing this out, I got a CNN alert on my phone saying Tillerson denies he contemplated an exit and claims the report that he called Trump a moron is “petty nonsense.” Uh huh. I bet Trump knows better, and he will hound Tillerson out of there by Valentine’s Day, if not sooner. And Rexxon will heave a sigh of relief as big as Exxon.
Open thread!
ETA: Employees of moron boss deny calling boss a moron — take that to the bank, America!
The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017