On Wednesday, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson was confirmed by the Senate as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State in a contentious vote.
Tillerson may be our next Secretary of State, but he will become so under the least approving Senate in recent history. Despite securing enough votes to be confirmed, Tillerson had a record 43 Senators voting against him while 56 voted for him.
By comparison, Condoleezza Rice was confirmed in 2005 with 13 Nays, while Henry Kissinger was confirmed in 1973 with 7.
Three Democrats voted for Tillerson: Mark Warner (D-VA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).
For the record, these three Democrats have voted to confirm every. one. of. Trump’s. Nominees. All 7 nominees, no matter how bland or horrific. These Democrats are traitors. They do not belong in these offices.
These Democrats have proved that they, too, are traitors to the American people. Of all of the nominees, Tillerson as Secretary of the State is one of the most deplorable. A vote for this man is a vote for corporate interest above human interest, as well as complete disregard for our planet’s future.
Unfortunately, even if the vote had gone along party lines, Tillerson still would have been confirmed because Republicans only needed 51 votes.
This is in part because Democratic Senator Chris Coons missed the vote, meaning that he was not able to register either an Aye or a Nay on Tillerson. still, even if Coons had been present and voted against Tillerson, and even if every other Democrat had done the same, the vote still would have gone in favor of Tillerson.
One Senate Independent, Angus King of Maine, also voted in favor of Tillerson while Senator Bernie Sanders voted against him (of course). King has also voted to confirm each of Trump’s nominees proving that he is nothing like his independent counterpart.
The fact that Tillerson was so strongly opposed in the Senate is significant, though it matters not now as he will be taking his place next to Trump, where he will undoubtedly offer shelter and privilege to the industry from whence he sprung.
