Stephen Colbert lays out a theory on why Trump really fired Rex Tillerson

Stephen Colbert waves goodbye to Rex Tillerson

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

last updated 14 March 2018

President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday. "The strange part about this is ... everything," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. "But strangest of all is how Trump told him, via tweet. ... What could be worse than learning you got fired from your boss' tweet? Oh, maybe seeing that 86,000 people 'liked' it. 'I lost my job but I am #trending,'" Colbert joked. "It's too bad Twitter wasn't around when Trump ended his first two marriages — back then he had to do it by fax."

The White House said it did not fire Tillerson by tweet, but via a phone call from Trump last Friday — but State Department spokesman Steve Goldstein contradicted that, saying Tillerson did not have advance warning and had planned to stay on. Colbert laid out a scenario where the White House apologized to Tillerson for getting it wrong, said he was just kidding, then explained what really happened: Trump fired Goldstein, too. Trump kind of elaborated on why he let Tillerson go, but one phrase caught Colbert's attention: "Rex will be much happier now? Every word in that sentence is what you say to a child when their dog has been put down."

So what was the final straw for Tillerson. "We don't know for sure — but yes we do, it was Russia," Colbert said, pointing out that just one day earlier, after the White House declined to blame Russia, Tillerson had strongly criticized Moscow for the attempted murder of a former Russian spy in Britain and said it would certainly "trigger a response." And it did, Colbert noted: "Goodbye, Rex. ... Tillerson should have known better. Russia has denied the whole thing, and the only thing worse than contradicting your boss is contradicting your boss' boss." Tillerson said his public farewells, but notably he "didn't mention Donald Trump" at all, Colbert said. "Sounds like Rex just made $130,000." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.