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Does Trump Represent U.S. Values? ‘The President Speaks for Himself,’ Tillerson Says - The New York Times

posted onAugust 28, 2017
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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, addressing President Trump’s blaming of “both sides” in the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., declined to say on Sunday whether Mr. Trump’s response represented “American values.” “The president speaks for himself,” Mr. Tillerson said on “Fox News Sunday.” Asked by the host, Chris Wallace, about a United Nations statement condemning the president’s words, Mr. Tillerson said that “I don’t believe anyone doubts the American people’s values” or the government’s commitment to them. Mr. Wallace then inquired about Mr. Trump’s own values. After Mr. Tillerson’s pointed response, Mr. Wallace asked whether he was separating himself from the president on the issue. Mr. Tillerson answered: “I have spoken. I have made my own comments as to our values as well in a speech I gave to the State Department this past week.” On Aug. 12, a 32-year-old woman, Heather D. Heyer, who was protesting a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, was killed when a car driven by a man who had professed admiration for Nazi ideology slammed into her and other demonstrators. During a wild news conference at Trump Tower three days later, Mr. Trump blamed “both sides” for the deadly violence. In the weeks since Ms. Heyer’s death, Mr. Trump has alternated between singling out neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan for condemnation and asserting that what he called the “alt-left” was also to blame for the Charlottesville violence. A gro... Link to the full article to read more

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