Sen. Thom Tillis has a warning for the Trump administration as he finishes out his time in office.
The retiring Senator from North Carolina says in a TV interview that he’ll oppose any future nominees of President Donald Trump who have expressed support for the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The president should know if there is anyone coming up for a nomination through any committee of my jurisdiction that excuse Jan. 6 that they’re not going to get confirmed in my remaining tenure in the US Senate,” Tillis said in an interview with CNN.
Tillis said he is still angry about the violent events that unfolded after Trump urged supporters to march on the Capitol to protest the 2020 election results.
Upon reelection in 2024, Trump pardoned or commuted more than 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the insurrection.
Tillis, who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, said he has told Capitol Police officers that “what the president did sucked.”
“I still call those people who got pardoned by the president thugs,” he said. “There are about 200-300 people that should be behind bars now for what they did on Jan. 6.”
Tillis announced he is retiring from the Senate after declaring he could not support the Medicaid cuts in the megabill and facing public attacks from Trump on Truth Social.
In his interview with CNN, he says he’s been having second thoughts about his vote to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid revelations that the Pentagon ordered a surprise halt to air defenses and military aid to Ukraine, a decision Trump abruptly reversed. “With the passing of time, I think it’s clear he’s out of his depth as a manager of a large, complex organization,” Tillis said.
