U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson swatted down rumors on Friday that he’s on his way out and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley wants his job.
‘I think we have a Secretary of State currently,’ Tillerson said with a wry smile on ‘Good Morning America.’
‘And I think he’s planning to hang around.’
Haley said Thursday at the end of four days in the spotlight during the UN General Assembly that she isn’t gunning to replace Tillerson.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson swatted down rumors on Friday that United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley wants his job and he’s on the way out
Asked point-blank on Friday whether she wanted to be secretary of state, Haley responded: ‘No, I do not’
Asked about rumors about her own political ambitions, Haley insisted she isn’t maneuvering for the next rung in the ladder.
‘There’s gonna be chatter about things,’ she told reporters.
‘Ever since I was a legislator people have talked about what I’m trying to do, or what I’m supposed to do,’ Haley said, referencing her time in South Carolina politics.
Asked point-blank whether she wanted to be secretary of state, she responded: ‘No, I do not.’
‘What I’m trying to do is do a good job. And I’m trying to be responsible in my job. And I’m trying to make sure that I inform the American people everything that I know,’ she continued.
Tillerson (center) and Haley (right) were in the spotlight all week as the United Nations General Assembly met in New York City
HANG ON A SECOND: ‘If people want to take it to mean something else, that’s their issue, it’s not anything I spend time on,’ Haley said Friday, denying interest
‘That’s what I’m trying to do and I’m trying to serve this president and this country the best I can. If people want to take it to mean something else, that’s their issue, it’s not anything I spend time on,’ she concluded.
Haley has earned plaudits for her first eight months on the job. She has chastised Russia for its ‘aggressive actions,’ marshaled through resolutions to crack down on North Korea, and denounced the ‘horrible acts’ in Charlottesville, showing some political deftness who came into her job without foreign policy experience.
Tillerson, a former Exxon CEO, meanwhile, has taken fire for holding a low profile, seeking to slash staffing at his department, and walling off the press.
Former Bush state department official Eliot Cohen said Tillerson ‘is going to go down as one of the worst secretaries of state this country has had.’
‘You have to speak for the United States. You have to speak for the United States not only to foreign diplomats, you have to speak to the American people. You have to speak to populations around the world. And he has almost willfully shut that down,’ Cohen told NPR.