He may have a $181 million retirement package and $54 million of ExxonMobil shares, but even secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson shops for his own Raisin Bran.
The longtime ExxonMobil CEO was spotted at a Safeway supermarket Tuesday evening in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood.
“Yup. That’s Rex Tillerson in my local Safeway shopping like a plebeian,” Washingtonian Sanho Tree wrote in a tweet that has since gone viral. “His security guy is about 20 paces behind him.”
The accompanying photo shows Tillerson in the canned goods and pasta aisle, toting a basket filled with Raisin Bran cereal, milk and baby carrots, among other groceries.
The grocery store in question is (affectionately) known by locals as the “Soviet Safeway,” Tree said in another tweet. “Long lines, bad selection!” There is no parking and the small store lacks the selection of larger supermarkets nearby, such as the sprawling “Social Safeway” in Georgetown.
Ironically, the high-profile “Soviet Safeway” shopper is known for his close business ties to Russia, having received the “Order of Friendship” from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013. Many GOP senators, including John McCain, have expressed concern over Tillerson’s relationship with Russia.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who will oversee Tillerson’s confirmation hearings, said Wednesday he expects the nominee to lead a robust policy toward Russia.
“I had a long private conversion with him. I had talked to him on the phone prior to that,” said Corker. “I think what people are going to find when they hear Tillerson in the hearing is that he’s very, very much in the mainstream of US foreign policy thinking.”