What was lost on the corporate media’s coverage of this past week’s sudden firing by Donald Trump of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was that it was carried out while Tillerson was on an official trip to Africa to smooth over fractured relations stemming from Trump’s referral to African countries as “shitholes” and his statement that Nigerians live in “huts.” In fact, Tillerson was forced to cut short his trip while in Nigeria, where he was expected to apologize to Nigerian leaders for Trump’s past racist statements.
What is more egregious is that Trump’s pick to replace Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, is current Central Intelligence Agency director Mike Pompeo, a former Republican congressman who, in a social media message, once referred to his Indian-American Democratic election opponent in Kansas as a “turban-topper.” Kansas State Representative Ray Goyle’s campaign responded, saying Pompeo’s message went “beyond the rules of engagement in politics.” Pompeo, a Kansas Tea Party activist who was funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, blamed the tweet on a campaign staffer.
Pompeo is also associated with the racist anti-Muslim group “ACT for America.”
Goyle, born in Cleveland, Ohio, is a Harvard Law School graduate. Goyle has not discussed his religion, however, he does not wear the traditional Sikh dastaar headgear, which Pompeo’s tweet referred to as a “turban.” Regardless of Pompeo’s halfhearted “apology” to Goyle, the incident was widely reported in the South Asian media. If he is confirmed as America’s top diplomat, Pompeo’s relationship with the governments of India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka—not to mention the large Sikh populations in India and Canada, where the defense minister is a Sikh—will get off to a very rocky start.
There is also the issue of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley who grew up Sikh and continues to attend Sikh religious services as a practicing Methodist. As secretary of state, Pompeo will be Haley’s boss.
As far as Africa is concerned, Pompeo will be faced with trying to explain why his predecessor was fired during a fence-mending tour of the continent dealing with Trump’s racist statements. It is known that Trump and Pompeo are on the same page on almost every issue, so Pompeo will be viewed by African governments as someone sharing Trump’s racist views.
Tillerson’s visit to Africa had other priorities, in addition to apologizing for Trump’s racist bluster. He warned the leaders of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Chad, and Nigeria to be wary of expanding Chinese economic and military influence on the continent. African leaders, including those at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, basically told Tillerson that Africa’s relationships with China or any other country was none of Washington’s business.
While Tillerson was in N’Djamena, Chad, he had to explain to government leaders why Chad, a U.S. ally in military operations against jihadist rebel groups, was included on Trump’s U.S. travel ban list.
Tillerson’s trip was punctuated by his “taking ill” while in Kenya. We now know that Tillerson’s “illness” was caused by a phone call from White House chief of staff John Kelly warning the Secretary of State that Trump was preparing to fire him via Twitter. The firing actually occurred while Tillerson was in the Nigerian capital of Abuja for what were to be two days of talks with President Muhammadu Buhari and his government.
Trump fired Tillerson while he was on an official visit to Nigeria, something that was not lost on the country where Trump suggested people live in “huts.” Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Steve Goldstein crafted a hasty announcement on Tillerson’s early departure from Nigeria: “Due to demands in the Secretary’s schedule, he is returning to the U.S. one day early, after concluding official meetings in Chad and Nigeria.” Goldstein was fired by Trump shortly after Tillerson was sacked.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua picked right up on Trump’s firing of Tillerson in the middle of the secretary of state’s African tour, stating in a report: “Africa has been marginalized in the Trump administration’s foreign policy, and the situation will likely remain so during his time in office.” In fact, the Chinese are correct. After more than a year in office, Trump has not nominated an assistant secretary of state for Africa nor has he filled several vacant ambassadorships on the continent, including an ambassador to South Africa.
By firing Tillerson while in Africa, China scored the biggest propaganda coup imaginable, thanks to Trump’s ability to damage, beyond repair, American foreign relations. The task of further unraveling U.S. relations with the rest of the world will now be handed to Pompeo, who shares, in every way, Trump’s record of racist dog-whistles and ignorant statements.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2018 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
