Tillerson Aide Says 'Constitution Speaks for the Country'

An aide to Rex Tillerson on Monday tried to clarify the secretary of state's controversial comments over the weekend, telling CNN that "the Constitution speaks for the country," not President Donald Trump.

The anonymous aide said Tillerson wasn't being critical of Trump when he told Fox News on Sunday "the president speaks for himself."

"The values start from the Constitution. The President's job is to uphold those values. Did he do the best job ever responding to Charlottesville? Nope. But that doesn't mean America changes," the aide told CNN. "That is why the President speaks for himself because the Constitution speaks for the country."

Tillerson's comments Sunday came during a discussion about the president's response to Charlottesville a few weeks ago, equating white supremacists with the counter-protesters.

"We express America's values from the State Department," Tillerson said on Fox, and that when it comes to Trump's values, "the president speaks for himself."

Tillerson and the president were to have lunch Monday — with Vice President Mike Pence — amid the controversy but also Trump's reported dissatisfaction with the secretary of state.

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