(CNN) – Elliott Abrams, who served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, will not get the No. 2 job at the State Department, three Republican sources told CNN.
But Abrams was nixed from the list of contenders after President Donald Trump learned of Abrams’ biting criticism last May of his fitness to become president, the Republican sources said.
The President found out about Abrams’ outspokenness against Trump after meeting with him on Tuesday to consider him for the position, which would have made him Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s deputy. The meeting went well, but Trump could not get past Abrams’ past criticism, the sources said.
Abrams, Bush’s deputy national security adviser, had emerged as the top contender to become Tillerson’s right-hand man.
“This is a loss for the State Department and the country and, for that matter, for the President,” said one Republican source.
Another Republican source with knowledge of what happened said Abrams would not get the job because of “Donald Trump’s thin skin and nothing else.”
Tillerson tried to convince Trump to make Abrams his deputy despite the criticism because he felt he needed his foreign policy experience, according to multiple sources. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior adviser Jared Kushner also strongly supported Abrams and urged Trump to reconsider, the sources said.
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Elliot Abrams won't be No. 2 at State Dept. after Trump learns he criticitzed him during the campaign, CNN reports https://t.co/PwhsGOggVi
— Adam Wollner (@AdamWollner) February 10, 2017
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