President Donald Trump said he would explore backing a primary challenger to two-term Sen. Thom Tillis Saturday — just hours after the North Carolina Republican voted against advancing the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative agena.
Trump berated Tillis in mutiple Truth Social posts, saying he was making a “big mistake” and that he would be meeting potential primary challenges as he was “looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina.”
Tillis has long expressed concerns about the impact of Medicaid changes in the bill on North Carolina and said Saturday he would not support the legislation unless changes are made. Trump did not mention the issue in his posts, but did detail Tillis’ earlier concerns with preserving some clean-energy tax breaks that Republicans are targeting.
North Carolina is the top pickup opportunity for Senate Democrats in 2026, and Tillis is a veteran of multiple tough races in the Tarheel State. In 2014, as speaker of the state House, he knocked off incumbent Kay Hagan in one of the closest Senate races of the cycle. Tillis then won narrowly in 2020 after his Democrat opponent, former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, got himself embroiled in a sexting scandal.
Tillis was already anticipating facing a strong Democratic opponent next year: Former Rep. Wiley Nickel has already announced a Senate bid, and popular former Gov. Roy Cooper is also mulling a run.
