Sen. Thom Tillis, a long-serving Republican from North Carolina, has publicly made a statement that has significant implications for the future of the Trump administration. In a recent CNN interview, Tillis emphasized that he will not support any future Trump nominees who expressed sympathy or support for the events of January 6, 2021, when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. This decision is a direct response to the former president’s encouragement of his supporters to march on the Capitol, which Tillis has continued to criticize strongly.
Tillis, who was present at the Capitol on January 6, has not forgotten the chaos that unfolded. He remains deeply affected by the violence and has described the actions of those involved as nothing short of criminal behavior. ‘What the president did sucked,’ he told Capitol Police officers, adding that he still considers those pardoned by Trump as ‘thugs.’ Tillis believes that many of those individuals should have faced legal consequences, as they played a role in the insurrection that disrupted the certification of the 2020 election results.
His decision to retire from the Senate comes after several years of political tension, including a disagreement over the Medicaid cuts in the megabill and public attacks from Trump on social media platforms. Tillis has also expressed skepticism about Trump’s ability to manage complex government operations, particularly after recent controversies involving the Pentagon’s decision to halt military aid to Ukraine. He has suggested that Trump is out of his depth when it comes to leading a large, complex organization, adding to the existing concerns about his leadership abilities.