Krauthammer’s Take: Tillerson’s Russia Ties Are a Liability Due to Trump’s Friendliness with Putin

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BJXJrQNwtXY

Charles Krauthammer said that the possibility of Donald Trump selecting Rex Tillerson as secretary of state would not be the subject of such controversy had Trump shown less friendliness to Putin during the campaign:

I think the reason for that is because of Trump himself. If Trump had not been so friendly, shall we say, to Putin during the campaign, had he not said such good things about him, had he not valued the relationship and spoken offhandedly about working together, it probably wouldn’t have been a big liability. But people are thinking, “Well, Trump is a novice.” He’s coming into an international arena where he’s been a spectator. You would want a secretary of state who would guide him, who would have experience. You might say, for example, the way Kissinger guided Nixon, who was actually quite experienced. So instead what you’re getting is a second novice, meaning somebody without direct foreign-policy experience, and somebody who received an order of friendship from a guy who is not our friend. And that’s a problem.