Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Sen. Marco Rubio announced Monday that he will vote to confirm former ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson to be the next secretary of State. In a Facebook post, Rubio said he still has reservations about Tillerson, but believes President Donald Trump deserves “deference” in his Cabinet choices. During Tillerson’s confirmation hearing, the Florida Republican grilled the former CEO on Russia’s involvement in Syria. “While he condemned Russia for ‘supporting Syrian forces that brutally violate the laws of war,’ he refused to publicly acknowledge that Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes,” Rubio wrote in his Monday statement. He continued: “Given the uncertainty that exists both at home and abroad about the direction of our foreign policy, it would be against our national interests to have this confirmation unnecessarily delayed or embroiled in controversy.” On Sunday, GOP hawks Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham announced that they would also support Tillerson. In a statement, the Democratic National Committee accused Rubio of “rolling over” for Trump. “By ignoring his serious reservations about Tillerson’s connections to Vladimit Putin, Marco Rubio is not only rolling over for Donald Trump, he’s earning the nickname Trump gave him: Little Marco,” senior adviser Zac Petkanas said.
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