CNN - Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that President Donald Trump "speaks for
himself" when asked whether the President's response to the violence in
Charlottesville, Virginia, raised questions about Trump's values.
Tillerson said on "Fox News
Sunday" that the United States was committed to freedom and "equal
treatment of people the world over" when posed the question by anchor
Chris Wallace.
"I don't believe anyone doubts
the American people's values," Tillerson said.
"And the President's
values?" Wallace asked.
"The President speaks for
himself," Tillerson said.
Last week, a United Nations committee issued a warning to the United States about
racism and hate crimes, saying US leaders had not sufficiently condemned white
supremacy. Trump was widely criticized for his
response to the racially motivated violence in Charlottesville, in which he
said "both sides" -- white supremacists and those protesting them --
were responsible for the clashes that left one woman dead and dozens injured.
Trump initially blamed the violence
on "many sides," but amid mounting criticism, he called out white supremacists and hate groups
like the Ku Klux Klan specifically a couple of days later. Then, then next day,
he generated further controversy with his "both
sides" remark during a press conference at Trump Tower.
Wallace mentioned the UN criticism
in his question to Tillerson about Trump's comments.
"Are you separating yourself
from that, sir?" Wallace continued, referring to Trump's statements and
how that might affect others' perceptions of US values.
"I made my own comments as to
our values as well in a speech at the State Department last week,"
Tillerson replied.
In that speech earlier this month, Tillerson delivered a condemnation of both hate
and those who "protect or accept hate speech" in any form -- a sharp
contrast with the comments made by Trump.
"It's simply important to say
-- although I think it's well understood and embraced, I'm certain, by everyone
in this room -- we all know hate is not an American value, nowhere is it an
American value," the top US diplomat said.
"Those who embrace it poison
our public discourse and they damage the very country that they claim to
love," Tillerson said. "So we condemn racism and bigotry in all its
forms."
"Racism is evil -- it is
antithetical to America's values, it is antithetical to the American
idea," Tillerson said.
In the past, Tillerson has come
under fire for saying, as he did in May, that US
foreign policy should sometimes separate values such as freedom, human dignity
and "the way people are treated" from policies it pursues around the
world.
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