Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said world leaders who “conceal the truth” are at risk of “relinquishing our freedom” in what appeared to be a criticism of President Donald Trump.
Mr Tillerson was giving the commencement speech at the Virginia Military Institute Lexington, Virginia in his first public remarks since being sacked in March via Mr Trump’s twitter account. He said to graduates: "If our leaders seek to conceal the truth, or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom”.
He also warned of “a growing crisis of ethics and integrity” in the US that if Americans fail to address now could mean “ American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years”.
The former Exxon executive was critical of leaders who encouraged a society "based on wishful thinking ... [and] hoped-for outcomes made in shallow promises”.
Mr Tillerson did not mention the president’s name or refer to the current administration at all in the speech but one line stuck out for Washington insiders as a thinly-veiled critique of Mr Trump: "We do not have to look far to find examples of the cost to individuals and to society when integrity is sacrificed for immediate gain or personal achievement," the former top diplomat said.
While cautioning the graduates about the US alienating its longtime allies, he also noted that globalisation and trade - issues Mr Trump has railed against as part of his ‘America First’ foreign policy - are not inherently bad for the future of the American workforce.
He acknowledged that trade has "led to anxiety and fear” jobs leaving the country but said that "every nation has the right to aspire to a better quality of life, and that free trade and economic growth are the means by which economic opportunity is created for all people”.
Mr Trump has used the word “unfair” to describe nearly every multilateral or bilateral deal the US is party to, particularly the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Canada and Mexico.
Mr Tillerson also said that the “damage” done by a lack of “public trust” in certain institutions and individuals at the top “strikes at the very heart of a free society”.
The president and Mr Tillerson’s relationship appeared to sour after rumours surfaced that the Texan had called Mr Trump a “moron" during a meeting at the Pentagon in July 2017, a report the State Department denied at the time.
Mr Trump told reporters in the wake of his tweet announcing his nomination of former CIA Director Mike Pompeo for the top diplomatic post that he and Mr Pompeo shared similar thinking, while he had "disagreed” with Mr Tillerson. He added that the former oil and gas CEO would be “much happier” out of office.
The pair had reportedly butted heads on matters involving Russia and North Korea in particular. In October 2017, the president had tweeted that Mr Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un through State Department diplomatic backchannels. At the time Mr Trump had warned of raining down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang in light of its development of nuclear weapons.
The historic first meeting between the two leaders was announced the same week as Mr Tillerson’s firing and is set for 12 June in Singapore.
