Rex Tillerson apparently still thinks Trump is a 'moron'

Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of state who was, like many Trump advisers, fired on Twitter, is perhaps most infamous for calling Trump a “moron” — or a “fucking moron,” according to some reports — and then refusing to deny he said it.

Now, nine months after being forced from the administration, he’s still saying unflattering — though unquestionably accurate — things about his former boss.

At an event in Houston this week, Tillerson bemoaned the fact that Trump “is pretty undisciplined, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.” He also discussed how he struggled to explain to Trump that much of his plans and dreams were illegal.

“So often, the president would say here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it,” Tillerson said, “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.'”

Tillerson was kicked to the curb in March of this year, mere hours after he dared to criticize Russia. The firing reportedly “came as a shock” to Tillerson, who had no idea that it was going to happen and certainly did not expect it to happen via tweet.

In a statement at the time, he said he “had every intention of staying” and did not know why he was fired. Nor had he even spoken with Trump, who prefers to fire people by tweet rather than face-to-face.

Tillerson is one of many Trump advisers who have commented on Trump’s lack of intellectual rigor. H.R. McMaster, the former national security adviser who was also fired via Twitter, reportedly called Trump an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartener.”

Chief of staff John Kelly has also been rumored to have said Trump is an “idiot,” a report that unsurprisingly inspired an incoherent meltdown in which Trump actually accused the media of being “unhinged.”

As for Tillerson, the reason he called Trump a moron is far more alarming than amusing. In a July 2017 meeting at the Pentagon with top military advisers, Trump demanded that the United States reverse its policy of reducing nuclear weapons and increase its stockpile “tenfold.”

Trump’s failure to understand why launching a new nuclear arms race is a bad idea, along with all the other typical behavior and absurd utterances, was enough to push Tillerson over the edge and refer to the commander in chief and leader of the free world as a “moron.”

The former secretary of state has stayed largely quiet since his firing — until now. While he did not specifically reiterate that Trump is a “moron,” it isn’t hard to read between the lines of his other comments. Unless, of course you’re Trump.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.