FOXNEWS - Rex Tillerson went before the television cameras yesterday to engage in some high-profile damage control.
It was hardly the first time that President Trump has been publicly at odds with one of his Cabinet members.
The former Exxon Mobil chief praised Trump and took on stories he said had been "erroneously reported," but with carefully worded denials.
Hours earlier, NBC reported that "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."
In July, says NBC, Tillerson openly disparaged Trump as a "moron," and when the president gave a strikingly political speech to the Boy Scouts, he considered not returning from a visit to his home in Texas. Vice President Pence "counseled" Tillerson "on ways to ease tensions with Trump," and other officials urged him to stay in the job at least until year’s end, the network says.
At 10:58 a.m., Tillerson told reporters that he had "never considered leaving this post" and Pence never tried to talk him into staying. He blamed the story on leakers, saying "there are some who try to sow dissension" in an effort to "undermine" Trump's agenda.
Asking during a brief Q&A with reporters whether he had described the president as a moron, Tillerson ducked. He said he would not deal with such "petty nonsense."
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