Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday said the president speaks for himself when it comes to Mr. Trump’s own personal values.
“I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values or the commitment of the American government or the government’s agencies to advancing those values and defending those values,” Mr. Tillerson said on “Fox News Sunday.”
What about the president’s values? host Chris Wallace asked him.
“The president speaks for himself, Chris,” he said. “I’ve made my own comments as to our values as well in a speech I gave to the State Department this past week.”
“We express America’s values from the State Department. We represent the American people,” Mr. Tillerson had said earlier in the interview.
“We represent America’s values - our commitment to freedom, our commitment to equal treatment of people the world over, and that message has never changed,” he said.
Mr. Tillerson had been asked about a recent statement from a United Nations committee saying there was a U.S. failure “at the highest political level” to unequivocally reject the “racist violent events and demonstrations” in Charlottesville, Virginia, in recent weeks.
Mr. Trump has blamed the media for getting it wrong in reporting on his comments in the wake of the recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that escalated into violence.
Initially, Mr. Trump condemned hatred, bigotry and violence “on many sides.” In a later statement, he specifically condemned the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, before later saying there was blame on both sides.
Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a man seen marching with the white supremacists sped into a crowd of counterprotesters.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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