Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE ally and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said the president-elect, "a master media manipulator," met with musician Kanye West to drown out criticism of his secretary of State choice.

“Let’s face it, any pick Donald Trump makes for his Cabinet will set the liberal media hounds barking,” Huckabee wrote Wednesday in a fundraising email for Huck PAC, according to a Center for Public Integrity reporter. "But naming the CEO of Exxon as secretary of State is tossing a beef steak into a pound of pit bulls."

Trump announced this week that he had chosen Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as his secretary of State.

"The left’s howls of outrage over Rex Tillerson would have been the news of the day if Trump, a master media manipulator, hadn’t used their own tactics to outfox them," the former GOP presidential candidate added.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Knowing the media’s obsession with celebrity, he pushed the criticism of Tillerson out of the headlines by meeting with hip-hop star Kanye West and NFL legends Jim Brown and Ray Lewis.”

West, Brown and Lewis appeared at Trump Tower in New York City the same morning Trump named Tillerson to lead the State Department.

Huckabee added that Trump huddling with the three celebrities shows his concern for black Americans.

“These three men can expect to get a lot of hate on the Internet from people who’ve never actually met or spoken with Trump, but who’ve only heard from political enemies that he’s a hateful racist,” he said. "I suspect that false image is already starting to fade because Trump seems intent on keeping his promises to the African-American community.

“He really intends to show residents of cities that have been run into the ground by decades of Democratic rule that there is a better way, and that despite Hillary [Clinton]'s $1.2 billion smear campaign, he was really elected because he promotes economic opportunity, not racism.”

Tillerson may face a tough confirmation process in the Senate due to his political inexperience and close business ties to the Russian government.