A New York Times columnist on Tuesday appeared to draw a comparison between Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE and former Cambodian dictator Pol Pot.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Bret Stephens was asked how he rates Tillerson at this point.

Stephens said he was a stern critic of former Secretary of State John Kerry John Forbes KerryThe Memo: Warning signs flash for Trump on debates Divided country, divided church TV ads favored Biden 2-1 in past month MORE.

ADVERTISEMENT

"But I think Tillerson really is up there as a nominee for worst secretary of State ever,” he said.

“The State Department is also part of the machinery of government and that machinery has to run in order for normal things to happen like having relationships with foreign countries or having consular services for U.S. people," he continued.

“And Tillerson seems to be of a kind of Maoist school, in which it's like, maybe it’s Pol Pot.”

He clarified that he didn't mean "the killing fields," sites in Cambodia where Pol Pot ordered the death of those suspected of opposing to his regime.

"I mean the ‘year zero’ mentality," he said.

"It’s just blow it all up, see what happens, wait for a while, and then try to arrange pieces as you see fit. That might work in a startup environment. It doesn’t work in a bureaucracy.”

Pol Pot was a genocidal dictator, and more than 1 million died under his rule in Cambodia.

Stephens later apologized for his remarks on Twitter.

"I let rhetorical exuberance get the better of me. RT in no way PP, not remotely or by analogy. I apologize. (BLS)," he tweeted.