A Republican senator warned that President Donald Trump’s actions were “killing our chances” for the GOP to keep power in the Senate.
This is part of the ongoing issue between Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina and Trump, which began last year when Republicans tried to pass the president’s “big, beautiful bill.”
The latest incident happened on Friday after Trump called Tillis a “nitpicker” on Truth Social.
“When I told him that I would not, under any circumstances, endorse him for another run, too much work and drama (he couldn’t have won, anyway!)
, he immediately quit the race and publicly announced that he was going to ‘retire,’” Trump stated.
“I said, ‘Wow, great news, that was easy!’
The media said how brave he was to take me on, but he wasn’t brave, he was just the opposite – HE WAS A QUITTER,” he went on. “Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, messing with the Republican Party.”
Tillis has not held back from criticizing Trump since he announced he wouldn’t run for office again, mainly targeting the president’s top advisors.
He did this again by blaming Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund on U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, pushing 50-year mortgages and the bipartisan Senate housing package on Housing Director Bill Pulte, and the push to acquire private companies with taxpayer money on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, along with the firings of top generals at the Pentagon — and “not holding Putin accountable for his systematic kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of Ukrainian civilians,” on War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“If opposing these things makes me a RINO, then I gladly accept that nickname,” Tillis said on X. “We need Republicans to do well in November, but the foolish stuff is ruining our chances!”
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital that Trump is “the clear leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party, and he is committed to keeping Republicans’ majority in Congress to keep delivering wins for the American people.”
“In just over one year, the President has made our country better than ever before with the most secure border in American history, the biggest middle-class tax cuts ever, and the lowest murder rate since 1900,” Wales added.
“President Trump will continue to contrast his common-sense agenda with the radical Democrats in Congress who allowed millions of illegal immigrants to cross the border, unanimously opposed the Working Families Tax Cuts, and are soft on crime.”
Still, many of Trump’s decisions have caused problems for Republicans in the Senate, especially the “anti-weaponization” fund, which halted Congress’ efforts to fund immigration operations across the country for the rest of Trump’s term.
Tillis was among several Republicans who criticized the fund set up by the Department of Justice shortly after it was announced earlier this week and joined others in a closed-door discussion against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday.
Like many, Tillis worried that the fund could be misused by people convicted for their involvement in the January 6 riots.
“Imagine that,” Tillis said earlier this week.
“A fund that is meant to pay people who assaulted Capitol Police officers and other responding agencies, right? People who have admitted to physical acts against the president may actually be able to get paid. How ridiculous does that sound coming from me?”
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