Reply To: Who should be Secretary of State?

From CNN:

For John McCain, who branded the Russian leader a “thug and a murderer” in a CNN interview Saturday, Tillerson’s cordial ties with Putin, whom the Arizona Senator considers a US enemy, are a red flag.

“It is a matter of concern to me that he has such a close personal relationship with Vladimir Putin,” said the 2008 Republican presidential nominee on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday.

“And, obviously, they have done enormous deals together, that that would color his approach to Vladimir Putin and the Russian threat.”

Tillerson, 64, was a driving force behind ExxonMobil’s partnership with Russian oil giant Rosneft and drilling projects in the Arctic, Black Sea and Siberia. In 2014, Putin awarded the ExxonMobil CEO the Order of Friendship, one of the highest honors Russia grants to foreign citizens.

McCain said that Tillerson would get a fair confirmation process if he were nominated. But he is not the only Republican senator to register alarm at the prospect of Tillerson at Foggy Bottom.

“Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState,” Marco Rubio said in a tweet signed with his initials on Sunday.

Rubio railed against Putin’s Russia during his own presidential campaign and an intervention in a Tillerson confirmation battle could help the Florida senator rehabilitate his reputation as a foreign policy heavyweight following his losing primary campaign.

Another key Republican in a Tillerson confirmation process could be South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who warned Sunday Russia was trying to “break the backs” of the world’s democracies.