Rex Tillerson Eye Contact Story Twitter Funny Reactions

Photo: Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images.

The "Mike Pence won't eat alone with women who aren't his wife" thing is not the only fun fact from President Trump's cabinet that came to light this week.

On Wednesday night, The Washington Post published a story about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, examining how he has fared during his first weeks in the State Department. The piece touches on his foreign trips, the fact that Trump proposed slashing 30% of the agency's funding in his federal budget, and how the former Exxon Mobil CEO has kept a relatively low profile despite his position.

But one thing in particular has the web up in arms: Some sources told the Post that people are not allowed to look Tillerson in the eyes. We're not kidding.

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The article reads, "Many career diplomats say they still have not met him, and some have been instructed not to speak to him directly — or even make eye contact."

The tidbit is rather insignificant in comparison to the rest of the story, which really takes a deep dive into Tillerson's first weeks on the job. But boy, did Twitter run with it.

Just to be clear, the story also said that State Department employees have been known to "swap paranoid stories about Tillerson that often turn out to be untrue." So, we have no actual proof that the "don't look him in the eyes" rule is a thing. However, that didn't matter for most social media users.

There were Medusa jokes, because of course.

What? Don't make eye contact? Or Rex will turn you into stone or what exactly?!? https://t.co/0aFddzZ6gy
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) March 31, 2017

when you make eye contact with Rex Tillerson pic.twitter.com/z5ut9eRToO
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 31, 2017

Legend has it that any career Foreign Service Officer who looks directly into Rex Tillerson’s eyes will be turned to stone.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 31, 2017

People theorized that Tillerson could actually be a gremlin?

Rex Tillerson rules
1. No direct eye contact allowed
2. Don't feed him after midnight
3. Avoid exposure to water
— Kav (@Dong__Quixote) March 31, 2017

Rule #2: Never feed Tillerson after midnight or allow him to touch water. https://t.co/F6Uf6SaosL
— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) March 31, 2017

Someone made a very important discovery: Jennifer Lopez and the secretary may have more in common than you think.

Looks like J-Lo and Rex Tillerson have something in common after all. pic.twitter.com/pzkLNOcJsm
— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) March 31, 2017

Other users were just confused.

Where does President Wacko find these people?! Diplomats have been instructed not to make eye contact with Secretary of State #RexTillerson pic.twitter.com/hdKccGDaXM
— Christopher❄️ (@cwebbonline) March 31, 2017

...or even make eye contact?? https://t.co/1h6qY1LzQN
— Mia Massicotte (@MiaMassicotte) March 31, 2017

And some folks just couldn't deal with the fact that the man whose job basically requires him to be a people person allegedly doesn't like to make eye contact.