Marco Rubio’s ministry urges its staff to ask themselves: “Would the president say it?”
The US State Department announced this Thursday that, going forward, US diplomacy will not comment on foreign electoral processes and their circumstances except “when there is a clear and compelling interest” for Washington.
“The Department will only comment publicly on elections when there is a clear and compelling US foreign policy interest to do so,” the document states, indicating that if a diplomatic delegation believes there is such a reason, it “should first seek guidance… before preparing any such statement.”
More specifically, the memo, described as “sensitive but unclassified” and released by Fox News, details that “messages should avoid commenting on the fairness or integrity of an electoral process, its legitimacy, or the democratic values of the country in question.”
Even when it is considered “appropriate” to comment on an election, the “message should be brief, focus on congratulating the winning candidate, and, where appropriate, highlight shared foreign policy interests,” the document states.
Along these lines, the Department referred to President Donald Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia on May 13, in which he praised the progress of “sovereign countries pursuing their own unique visions and charting their own unique destinies in their own way.”
“While the United States will stand firm in its own democratic values and celebrate those values when other countries choose a similar path, the president made clear that the United States will seek partnerships with countries wherever our strategic interests align,” the department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, specified.
URGES STAFF TO ASK THEMSELVES: “WOULD THE PRESIDENT SAY THAT?”
In fact, the Department has urged all those involved in drafting such publications to ask themselves, after drafting election-related messages, “Would the president say so?”
This is one of the pieces of advice endorsed under a heading urging diplomatic service professionals to “use election-related messages to advance a U.S. foreign policy objective; do not use them to promote an ideology.” Furthermore, the memo urges them “not to use euphemisms to try to circumvent this guidance.”
Thus, U.S. diplomatic missions abroad—for example, embassies—should seek guidance from senior Department officials if they “wish to issue statements denouncing the process or outcome of an election,” the memo explains, citing instances such as “violence during voting or fraudulent elections.” In any case, the memo notes that “such messages will be rare.”
Additionally, they will only be “free to amplify messages originating from official White House accounts or the Department’s main accounts,” but must obtain authorization to share any other related messages.
