Kerry 'Will Not Go Quietly Into the Night' During Trump Administration

Secretary of State John Kerry said in a Tuesday speech that he would not be silent during the Donald Trump administration, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.

Secretary of State John Kerry vowed to play a significant role in what he expects will be "one hell of a debate" about the country in the next few years.

Kerry said he would not "go quietly into the night" during the Trump presidency, paraphrasing a poem by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The poem's refrain urges readers to "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Kerry avoided mentioning Clinton or President-elect Trump by name, but made clear he lamented the Democratic nominee's defeat "bitterly" while urging the audience to remain engaged in political fights during the Trump presidency.

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"The State Department's glass ceiling has been removed," he said. "Others have not, as we bitterly know. But, it's up to us still to ensure that it doesn't come back, because nothing is certain."

Beyond the "glass ceiling" issue, Kerry took aim at the hostility to trade agreements that propelled Trump to victory. He conceded that many Americans "see their lives as vitally disrupted and even as filled with fear," but argued that trade deals had not caused that uncertainty.

"Eighty-five percent of job loss in the United States is due to technology, not trade," Kerry said. "So we're running around hearing people battle a dragon called trade when, in fact, it's not the fundamental problem ...

"You tell me how the economy of the United States is going to grow, if 95 percent of the world's customers live in another country, but we're going to start knee-jerkingly just closing off some of that because we're blaming other people for things that people are unwilling to address more directly and more honestly."