- Title: Kerry warns of 'authoritarian populism,' takes jab at Trump tweets
- Date: 10th January 2017
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, WALKING ON STAGE AND SITTING KERRY ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "One of the greatest challenges we all face right now, not just America - that every country in the world is - we are living in a fact-less political environment. And every country in the world better stop and start worrying about authoritarian populism and the absence of substance in our dialogue, if you call it that. There's a long, well-defined history of what happens when you have economic fear and pressure, and a level of exploitation of those fears, coupled with sectarian or ethnic exploitation, and a kind of simplistic sloganeering politics." VARIOUS OF MEN ASKING QUESTIONS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "If policy is going to be made in 140 characters on Twitter and every reasonable measurement of accountability is being bypassed and people don't care about it, we have a problem. And it's not just our problem here in the United States; it's all over the world. I mean, do you realize that in the entire presidential campaign here in the United States of America there wasn't one question asked about climate change? In three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, not one question. It's stunning." KERRY ON STAGE KERRY LEAVING
- Embargoed: 24th January 2017 19:53
- Keywords: Trump authoritarian populism tweets Twitter Secretary of State
- Location: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015YI29TZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday (January 10) warned of the dangers of authoritarian populism and offered a thinly veiled critique of Donald Trump's prolific use of Twitter, saying it allowed the president-elect to avoid accountability.
In his most pointed public comments about Trump since the Nov. 8 presidential election, Kerry also suggested that the president-elect's Cabinet nominees were getting a free pass from Congress for failing to submit tax returns and other documentation before their Senate confirmation hearings.
"Every country in the world better stop and start worrying about authoritarian populism and the absence of substance in our dialogue," Kerry told a Washington forum.
"If policies are going to be made in 140 characters on Twitter, and every reasonable measurement of accountability is being bypassed, and people don't care about it, we have a problem," Kerry said.
As an example of the absence of substance in the political debate, he said climate change was given short shrift during the campaign between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
He contrasted his own vetting for secretary of state and the paperwork he had to provide with exceptions he said are being made for Trump Cabinet nominees before their confirmation hearings.
In December, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker said the panel had not asked Rex Tillerson, Trump's choice for secretary of state, to provide his tax returns, which Corker said was in accordance with precedent.
Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil Corp., has not submitted tax returns, but his financial disclosure and ethics agreement has been made public.
Kerry, a former senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee who became President Barack Obama's secretary of state in 2013, said it is "quite amazing when you think the hoops I had to jump through with respect to papers submitted, documentation submitted and tax returns... Suddenly, that's not as important."
Asked if he believed Trump's nominees were getting "a free pass," Kerry chuckled and dodged the question.
Walter Shaub, director of the federal Office of Government Ethics, said in a letter to senators last week that he had "great concern" about the hearing schedule for Trump nominees who had not completed the ethics review process, and said it would be "cause for alarm if the Senate were to go forward with hearings on nominees whose reports OGE has not certified."
Kerry said he had not yet met with Tillerson, but expected to do so soon. Kerry and Tillerson spoke last month by telephone, according to the State Department.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition team said she had no comment on Kerry's remarks. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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