Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka said Thursday that it is “nonsensical” for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to weigh in on military matters.
In a recorded interview on BBC Radio, Gorka stated, “The idea that Secretary Tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsensical.”
“It is the job of Secretary Mattis, the secretary of defense, to talk about the military options, and he has done so unequivocally … That is his mandate,” he continued. “Secretary Tillerson is the chief diplomat of the United States, and it is his portfolio to handle those issues.”
Gorka’s interview seems to try and discredit Tillerson’s statements on the North Korea threat.
Tillerson has tried to modify Trump’s “fire and fury” comments, arguing that Trump was using language that Kim Jong Un would understand.
“I think what the president was just reaffirming is that the United States has the capability to fully defend itself from any attack, and our allies, and we will do so,” he said, trying to reassure those who felt a nuclear threat was imminent. “So the American people should sleep well at night.”
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