It was a stunning moment. On Sunday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that the president of the United States does not speak for American values.

After deflecting questions from Fox News’ Chris Wallace about President Donald Trump’s failure to condemn white supremacist groups who incited deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, by saying that he and the State Department “represent America’s values,” Tillerson said that “the president speaks for himself.”

Tillerson’s statement caps a tumultuous two weeks in which Trump demonstrated that he has abandoned essential duties of the office, failing to provide basic, measured responses to violence and natural disasters.

Throughout last week, he continued to defend his widely condemned response to the violence in Charlottesville — in which he delayed and then backtracked on a denunciation of white nationalist, KKK and neo-Nazi groups — including during a campaign-style rally in Phoenix.

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22, 2017. (Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM via Getty Images)

Trump’s failure to provide the most elementary leadership earned criticism from lawmakers and leaders around the world — even from a United Nations panel on combating racial discrimination, which expressed deep concern about “the example this failure could set for the rest of the world.”

The night Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas, unleashing potentially historic rainfall, Trump announced he was pardoning former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who illegally targeted Latinos and was convicted of criminal contempt for violating a court order. In doing so, he bypassed the Department of Justice’s normal pardon procedures. (Trump reportedly asked his attorney general about closing the criminal case against Arpaio months earlier.)

On Sunday, as residents of Texas began evaluating the flooding and damage from the storm, Trump issued a stream of tweets congratulating authorities and himself for the recovery effort, which he bragged was “going well!” The tweets about Hurricane Harvey were sandwiched between posts on unrelated topics, including the president’s personal grievances.

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For example, Trump immediately followed the announcement that he would visit Texas with a tweet boasting about his election victory in a different state, while suggesting that he would help unseat the state’s Democratic senator.

I will also be going to a wonderful state, Missouri, that I won by a lot in '16. Dem C.M. is opposed to big tax cuts. Republican will win S! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017

Tillerson is not the only administration official attempting to distance himself from the president in recent days.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis can be heard telling U.S. troops in Jordan to “hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other,” in a video posted Thursday on Facebook. Mattis also said the U.S. will “get the power of inspiration back,” which many interpreted as criticism of Trump’s leadership.

It’s unclear exactly when Mattis made the impromptu remarks, though he stopped in Jordan during his overseas trip last week.

“You’re a great example for our country right now, and it has got problems,” Mattis said in the video. “You know it and I know it. It’s got problems we don’t have in the military. And you just hold the line, my fine soldiers and sailors and airmen and Marines.”

The president’s economic adviser, Gary Cohn, told the Financial Times that he contemplated resigning after Trump’s Charlottesville remarks, saying the administration “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups.”

Of course, many in the Trump administration still unambiguously defend the president. After Trump delivered a scripted but conspicuously vague speech on his Afghanistan war strategy, Vice President Mike Pence insisted Trump’s primetime address signaled “American resolve.” Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the speech demonstrated “the signs of a president.”

The next day, Trump reverted to form at his no-holds-barred Arizona rally, making it next to impossible to believe that he will treat the presidency with the gravity the office is meant to hold.

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Steve Culver cries with his dog Otis as he talks about what he said was the, 'most terrifying event in his life,' when Hurricane Harvey blew in and destroyed most of his home while he and his wife took shelter there on in Rockport.

Ofelia Castro leads her grandchildren across a flooded street as they continue an hours long trek from their flooded house in the Edgewood area of South Houston to a relatives apartment miles away.

Aaron Tobias who said he lost everything stands in what is left of his home in Rockport. Mr. Tobias said he was able to get his wife and kids out before the storm arrived but he stayed there and rode it out.

Damaged boats in a multi-level storage facility are seen in Rockport.

People gather supplies out of destroyed homes to take back to a shelter near City-By-The Sea, Texas.

A destroyed laundromat is seen in Rockport.

A destroyed apartment complex is seen on Aug. 26, 2017, after Hurricane Harvey passed through Rockport, Texas.

Donna Raney is helped out of the window by Lee Guerrero and Daisy Graham in Rockport.

Valerie Brown walks through a flooded area after leaving her apartment in Rockport.

Charlie Company of the 4th Assault Amphibious Battalion, Marine Forces Reserve arrive at the Central Mall in Port Arthur, TX on Thursday night after running rescue missions in the hardest hit areas of town throughout the day.

A Rockport firefighter goes door to door on a search and rescue mission as he looks for people who may need help.

Rescue personnel help Hersey Kirk as she is airlifted into a rescue helicopter.

Jacque McKay walks through the apartment complex where she lives in Rockport.

A damaged home is seen after Hurricane Harvey in Rockport.

Damage is seen to a shopping center in Victoria, north and farther inland than Rockport.

Damage is seen at a business near Rockport

A damaged mobile home in Victoria.

Damage to a hotel in Victoria.

A business is damaged in Victoria.

A light plane sits upside done at Rockport Airport.

A sunken boat at Rockport Harbor.

Destroyed houses in Rockport.

Light medium tactical vehicle's (LMTV) make their way through floodwaters near Bridge City in Texas.

A car lies abandoned in Rockport.

A police officer checks for survivors among destroyed houses in Rockport.

A gas station in Victoria.

Damage to homes is seen near Rockport

A sign on a Holiday Inn hotel in Victoria.

Just got out of Rockport; no cell service there; catastrophic damage; homes, businesses destroyed. #hurricaneharvey pic.twitter.com/CJKPJOhEHZ — Jeremy Schwartz (@JinATX) August 26, 2017

First light reveals heavy damage in Rockport, TX. #hurricaneharvey. pic.twitter.com/a9vVRn9iJS — Jeff Gammons (@StormVisuals) August 26, 2017

A burnt-out house that caught fire after Hurricane Harvey hit Corpus Christi.

A house suffers roof damage in Corpus Christi.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.