We always sensed something was a little off with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Now, we know what it is.
The Washington Post reports that Mr. Tillerson has serious issues when it comes to making eye contact with people. He also doesn’t like being spoken to directly. Evidently, it makes him nervous.
According to sources, America’s top diplomat has yet to meet many of the other career diplomats who work within the State Department. Those who have met him were purportedly told not to speak to him directly. And absolutely do not make direct eye contact under any circumstances! Lest they turn to stone. Or something.
After the story broke late yesterday, #RexTillerson started trending on Twitter, garnering more than 20,000 tweets weighing in on the Secretary’s bizarre social phobia.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Let’s take a look at what people are saying…
Every time you look at Rex Tillerson in the eyes, a baby seal dies.#Trumprussia #RexTillerson
— Donald J. Trump (@AKADonaldTrump) March 31, 2017
Do not look Rex Tillerson in the eyes! #RexTillerson pic.twitter.com/BqZ157UQTC
— HITman (@HCITinTX) March 31, 2017
Trump Administration Rules Don't look at #Trump's #taxreturns, don't look #RexTillerson in the eye. #Winning
— cheerio grrrl (@cheeriogrrrl) March 31, 2017
His vision is based on movement! #RexTillerson pic.twitter.com/qtipajanzm
— Alt. Sean Spicer (@AltUSPressSec) March 31, 2017
If you look Tillerson in the eye you turn into crude oil.
— hugh acheson (@HughAcheson) March 31, 2017
@HuffingtonPost #RexTillerson be like.. pic.twitter.com/iBGphRSAxd
— Shawn S (@ShawnS754) March 31, 2017
If I'm ever standing in front of Rex Tillerson, I'm going to poke him in both eyes!!!! #rextillerson #dumptrump #theresistance
— Angry Bob (@AngryBob13) March 31, 2017
Every time someone makes eye contact with Rex Tillerson while Mike Pence eats with a woman, an angel gets their wings.
— Michael Blackman (@MBlackman37) March 31, 2017
Related: Trump’s expected secretary of state pick led only company with negative LGBTQ equality score
ChrisK
Great condition to have as the Secretary of State.
1EqualityUSA
If this entire Trump debacle were turned into a screenplay, it would be rejected for being too outlandish.
mhoffman953
Shocking that the Washington Post writes another story with no source and no proof
Just like when the claimed Russia hacked our electric grid
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2017/01/01/fake-news-and-how-the-washington-post-rewrote-its-story-on-russian-hacking-of-the-power-grid/#79941d1f7ad5
Or when they pushed for the Iraq war
https://www.thenation.com/article/eleven-years-how-washington-post-helped-give-us-iraq-war/
Or when they claimed a Republican running for a job had illegal immigrant parents
http://thebullelephant.com/the-washington-post-erroneously-claims-john-guevaras-parents-were-illegal-immigrants/
The list goes on
GayEGO
I heard Trump say this about Cruz during the Republican primaries on TV, claiming he was born in Canada so his parents who were living in Canada were not Americans. Trump just says this crap just to be theatrical or like a wheeler dealer salesman.
natekerchel
And your ridiculous attempt to defend people who want to take away your civil and human rights goes on mhoffman. You claim you are gay – yet you constantly support the most extreme right wing government in the history of the USA, whose intention is to reverse your civil and human rights – and there is plenty of proof for that. The psychological term for this behavior is ‘Death Wish Syndrome’. Or more prosaically – turkeys voting for Christmas.
mhoffman953
@natekerchel How is Rex Tillerson trying to take away my rights and which rights is he taking away from me?
ChrisK
Well, lets see. When he was head of Exxon he repeatably refused to add sexual orientation to their anti discrimination policy. When asked whether gay right were human rights he refused to answer. Plus, Kerry and Clinton as Secretaries were champagnes of LGBT rights.
mhoffman953
@ChrisK That’s a somewhat misleading statement when you say, “When asked whether gay right were human rights he refused to answer”, when in fact he did answer.
He was asked by Senator Chris Coons if he “believes gay rights and human rights and is that a piece of our human rights advocacy agenda around the world?” Tillerson replied that “American values don’t accommodate violence or discrimination against anyone. That’s part of the American values that we project.” Just because he didn’t stand up and wave a rainbow flag doesn’t mean he refused to answer, he gave an answer saying that America doesn’t tolerate violence or discrimination against anyone.
Tillerson has even advocated that the Boy Scouts should change their policies and allow openly gay youths to join when he said “No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone” in 2013 at a conference. He obviously isn’t the top advocate for gays in the world but he’s far from an enemy.
Also back on topic, a reporter from the Associated Press is reporting the above story to be false after he investigated it. So back to the ‘fake news’ pile with this one.
chuck
Sounds like part of the plot in the novel “Story of O”.
Daniel-Reader
Eyes are the window to the soul. So if you don’t want people looking in your eyes, it is because…
1EqualityUSA
Is the Euphrates dry yet?
natekerchel
Do you understand the concept of ‘collective responsibility’ mhoffman? Tillerson is part of a ‘government’ dedicated to rolling back equality gains made under Obama – though they wont take on gay marriage because they know they cant win that one. Each time trump signs an Executive Order removing protections for lgbt people, Tillerson is guilty as are all the others in this ‘administration’. This is not a difficult concept to understand. There is nothing here for you to twist into something else. If they fundamentally disagreed with trump they would resign. They don’t resign – therefore they are guilty.
I don’t think I have ever seen you criticize anything this ‘administration’ does – however vile. I quite happily criticize my side for things I consider wrong – e.g. I maintain that Clinton was partly to blame for allowing trump to be able to steal the election.
I am not saying that every gay man has to be a Democrat – that would be absurd. What I do say is I find it very difficult to understand any gay man who not only defends trump all the the but also actively promotes the disgusting agenda of that politically illegitimate infester of the White House.
1EqualityUSA
I’m so glad Joe Biden didn’t feel this way. Even that heartless Cheney was pro-LGBT, though it didn’t stop W from trying to seal our fate legally.
GayEGO
Agreed.
He BGB
Didn’t Cheney become pro LGBT AFTER he was out of office? I rememer, too, days after G Bush left office it was announced that Laura and the bush twins were for gay marriage, too. It’s really cowardly and weak and disgusting to be silent for politics but when you’re a regular citizen you can tell everyone how liberal you are. The Bush administration did every mean thing they could against gay people. Now he wants you to love his paintings of puppies and soldiers.
1EqualityUSA
W was pretty awful to us. I think Cheney was vocal about his support before Bush’s 2nd term was up. It’s all a blur, and I prefer it this way. If his painting soldiers and dogs occupy his time, I’m ok with that. It’s better than self-destructing. The tally in his head, of lives lost, is endless. Paint, President Bush.
Jack Meoff
How is a person who cannot interact easily and freely with people hold such an important position. How does his phobia impact on his ability to do his job properly.
mhoffman953
It’s being reported that this is fake news: http://thehill.com/media/326752-ap-reporter-disputes-washington-posts-tillerson-eye-contact-report
Jack Meoff
@mhoffman953 please refrain from replying to any of my posts in future.
mhoffman953
@JackMeoff Wasn’t aware you owned this site and can tell others what they can and can’t do. I’ll continue posting wherever I feel like it, you do the same
natekerchel
mhoffman – Would you care to comment on my explanation of ‘collective responsibility? I note your habit of not accepting you are wrong about something. I would also just remind you that the legal basis for Nuremberg Trials after WW2 was that of collective responsibility. It was not acceptable to claim it was just Hitler – all of them were guilty. So also in this case – it is not just trump who is guilty – all who serve and support him are guilty. By the way, your habit of claiming that almost every story you comment on is either ‘fake news’ or is being suppressed by the ‘left wing’ media lost credibility a long time ago.
mhoffman953
The schtick of comparing everyone you don’t like to Hitler is getting old. Also, are you claiming the above story is 100% true and not fake news, even though a reporter from the Associated Press (who doesn’t like Trump) verified that this story is not true?
Neonegro
lol I applaud your patience mhoffman953 but remember teenage girls only deal with emotions….lol
natekerchel
Normally I will make my points without any personal observations about the individual trump supporters on this site. But you sir are a case beyond all the rest. Your contributions are, at best, childish and , at worst, deranged and dangerous. You behave like a petulant schoolboy determined to be the class clown. ‘Clown’ might be appropriate – but not in the fun sense of that word. You are clearly homophobic – judging by your own language. You may claim to be either gay or bisexual, I dont care. You are still homophobic beyond any doubt.
I can have some respect for someone like mhoffman even if I disagree with him on everything because I believe that he genuinely believes what he says. He is also not abusive to people who disagree with him. But you – I believe you are here just to cause trouble and stir people up by being as obnoxious as possible. I used to think that you might believe you would win people over to trumps side, but that has never been your goal at all.
You have the right to free speech of course – mainly won for you by those of us on ‘the left’. So you will continue with your schoolboy provocations and inept arguments. Good luck with that.
Neonegro
Well that shows your lack of good perception.
I do not believe I can change the mind of any leftist gay.
I am here simply to counteract the leftist gay/feminine agenda being pushed around.
natekerchel
wrong again mhoffman – I am not interested in the story – I am interested in your claims that Tillerson has no responsibility for anti-lgbt hatred being spewed out by this ‘administration’. But as usual you try to deflect. Also, you have no answer to a fact like collective responsibility – maybe its too complicated for you to understand. The Hitler comparison is appropriate because that was the first time individuals were held responsible for the collective actions of a government. So you being tired of hearing it is irrelevant. What you mean is – you have nothing to rebut with. International law cannot be ‘trumpified’ in any way. So you can stop trying to confuse the story with my points about collective responsibility. They are not related.
mhoffman953
@natekerchel
What anti-lgbt hatred is being spewed by this administration? Can you name a specific policy that is law right now? (Don’t cite speculative sources about rumored legislation, I’m talking current legislation)
Also to compare our current administration to Hitler and Nazi Germany shows that you think its ok to loosely throw around the comparison.
In no way, shape, or form does our current administration compare to the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Just because some LGBT page on the White House website (which many didn’t even know existed) was taken down pales in comparison to Nazis turning Jewish people into lamp shades or soap.
Removing an intrusive question on census forms doesn’t match starving millions of people and sending them off to gas chambers to die.
Advocating for states rights, to maintain the powers of government, is not the same as hanging Jews in the street, shooting Jews in the head in point blank range, or incinerating Jewish women and children in ovens.
natekerchel
Well mhoffman – yet again you twist what i say. My use of Hitler in this case was in a specific context – that of collective responsibility – which you know you cannot refute or twist away. I never mentioned anything about lamps or soap or pages on web sites. I said they are collectively responsible for spewing hatred of lgbt people, ethnic minorities and women in particular. If you want evidence – read the speeches of trump. Read his past comments on women in particular. Recall what he said about Mexicans. Look at the Executive orders removing protections from lgbt people. Those things are not figments of my imagination or rumour or speculation – they happened.
But as you have already brought it up again I say this – go back and read the in depth history of the rise of the Third Reich – trace the path Hitler trod to dictatorship. Compare it to trump’s position and words and actions. I will point out this
1. Like trump, Hitler never won a popular vote election. He was appointed by a cabal of the great and the good whothought they could control him. Much the electoral college, the Republican Party and trump.
2. On taking power Hitler immediately began to rule by decree through an Enabling Act – much like trump loves doing through Executive Orders
3. Hitler and his Minister of Propaganda immediately set about attacking institutions like the media and judiciary and unions and so on – trump and his Secretary of Propaganda and Alternative Facts Spicer do the same.
4. The same two people deliberately set out to subvert reality and the truth. ‘Tell a big lie’ was the Goebbels catchphrase. The more you repeat it the more people believe it. Does that not sound familiar? The constant chant of ‘fake news’ resonates with similar claims in Nazi Germany.
5. Hitler and trump share two other, and more dangerous features – rampant nationalism and an unrealistic image of themselves as some kind of national saviour.
mhoffman953
Your list of 5 comparisons to Hitler is very loosely based.
You honestly are comparing Trump to Hitler, just because Trump didn’t win the popular vote? If you do that then I guess you can compare John Quincy Adams to Hitler too. Secondly, Hitler didn’t come to power the same way Trump did. Hitler did many backroom deals and formed a coup with various political parties before demanding Hindenburg to make him Chancellor and he did. If it was the equivalent, that would be like Obama christening Trump as the President – vastly different
To then cite if a President signs an executive order, he must be the same as Hitler is another ridiculous claim. All President signs executive orders, some more than others and most do it as soon as they get into office. Real legislation lasts long term, executive orders only last until someone rescinds them.
Past Presidents have also attacked the media. Obama attacked FOX News multiple times, Bill Clinton wasn’t a fan of the media, and we could even go back to Andrew Jackson who criticized the newspapers who reported negatively about him.
Plus, there is nothing wrong with nationalism and a love of country. We are a nation of laws and should enforce our laws. That means having strong borders, a robust economy, and making sure we are a country of laws. To push anything else, pushes a globalist, no borders agenda which is un-American.
jorgecruz
mhoffman plays this same word game every time- if it isn’t the exact wording that he wants to see he argues that it doesn’t have any effect. You don’t need to cut off someone’s head to kill them with a knife if you stab them 100 times. Trump picked Mike Pence to be his VP. Now you will argue that he didn’t specifically sign any laws that made it illegal to be gay in Indiana. Trump just rescinded the anti-discrimination orders by Obama- now you will argue that they weren’t explicitly written to only protect the LGBT community. Your word games are transparent and phony. Keep writing them, you just aren’t convincing anyone that you aren’t an antigay troll in disguise.
mhoffman953
@Jorgecruz When you say, “Trump just rescinded the anti-discrimination orders by Obama” that is not true. Executive Order 13673 was rescinded by President Trump NOT Executive Order 13672. The 13672 one deals with anti-discrimination orders. The 13673 one deals with awarding government contracts to companies.
To summarize Executive Order 13673, it says the government cannot grant contracts for projects to a business if that business isn’t self-reporting any lawsuits filed against them in terms of labor lawsuits whether the lawsuits were frivolous or not within 3 years. This prevents many businesses from getting government projects even if they had a frivolous lawsuit filed against them or if it was a lawsuit with merit which they corrected. The ridiculous part is the part where it says they have to “self-report” where businesses could lie in these reports. That’s why government shouldn’t rely on self-reporting and should go by public record – hence the reason this order was rescinded.
Executive Order 13672 (as well as existing anti-discrimination laws) still exists: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/31/president-donald-j-trump-will-continue-enforce-executive-order
Chris
Back when I was training people on multicultural contacts with immigrants, we would talk about eye contact during speaking. People who do cross-cultural research say that, in the U.S., eye contact is somehow seen as indicating that someone is telling the truth and that people avert their eyes when they are lying. However, in many nations around the world, eye contact is an indication of status and power. People who look you in the eye are your peers; people below you in status should look down while you look at them or at something else. ….. Seems like Mr. Tillserson’s demand and nervousness could be interpreted in quite a few ways. I happen to think that as former CEO of a multinational, he wants to show dominance and status.
natekerchel
I don’t care whether or not he looks into people’s eyes. His guilt is that he is part of a vile ‘administration’ who are bent on removing protections and rolling back advances pertaining to lgbt people. If you do not agree with the policies being pursued by the ‘president’ you serve then you resign – if you have any honor and integrity. None of this lot have – therefore they are all guilty of acts of discrimination and homophobia. Maybe he does not look at people in the eyes because he is ashamed of his part in the attacks on minorities – but that is very unlikely. They have no shame, no compassion, no humanity.
natekerchel
mhoffman – you need to go back to your history books – you are incorrect. Hitler was initially offered the Vice-Chancellorship under Von Papen. He refused that offer, holding out for the Chancellorship because his was the largest party in the Reichstag. Hindenburg was too old and ill to be involved – and anyway he hated Hitler. The movers and shakers of the day decided to offer Hitler what he wanted because they thought they could control him despite his very clear statements in the past decade.
My comparison of trump with Hitler is not based on one thing – I listed 4 things . Of particular concern is the rule by decree – or in this case by Executive Order. Trump thinks he has unlimited power to do what he wants – the courts have shown him the reality of course.
Of course you will deny the similarities – you don’t want to be seen for what you are. Like Hitler, trump has told us all what kind of man he is – read his speeches and look at what he has done so far.
natekerchel
correction – I listed 5 comparisons to Hitler – all very clear.
scotty
all the more reason to stare at him in public.