Reince Priebus told the “Morning Joe” crew Tuesday that there’s a simple reason Donald Trump tapped Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state.
Rex Tillerson speaks during the 2015 Oil and Money conference in central London on October 7, 2015 (Getty Images)
Priebus — Donald Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff — explained that ultimately, the “advantage” Tillerson had over Mitt Romney and other candidates was simply the “chemistry” he has with the President-elect.
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“Well, number one, it comes in the chemistry,” the current RNC chair stated. “Governor Romney is impressive and so are so many others we talked to — Rudy Guiliani, and David Petraeus and Bob Corker — but at the end it was chemistry, it was presence, it was vision.”
Priebus further complimented the “ability that Rex Tillerson had to maintain relationships across the world in places that are not the easiest places to have relationships in during the different administrations, and so he’s good at being a diplomat.”
Reince Priebus looks on as Donald Trump prepares to greet Bob Woodson, president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, at Trump International Golf Club (Getty Images)
“He’s a diplomat that happens to drill oil, and the Good Lord did not put oil in all freedom-loving Democracies across the world, and yet Rex Tillerson was able to make this work,” Priebus continued. “Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson, they just hit it off and have a similar idea of how to get things done.”
The Trump team formally announced Tillerson’s nomination Tuesday morning