Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is sounding an extraordinary alarm about Donald Trump, executive power and the future of American democracy — warning that without meaningful checks and balances, the country risks ending up with what he called a “dictator king.”
The retiring North Carolina Republican delivered the warning during a remarkably candid interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday.
And unlike the usual partisan criticism of Trump, this came from a senator who still describes himself as a conservative Republican and says he wants the president to succeed.
Tillis’ concern centers on something much larger than one policy fight: the growing power of the presidency and Congress’ willingness to surrender its own authority.
“We will have a sort of dictator king if we’re not careful,” Tillis told correspondent Ross Douthat.
Tillis argued that presidents from both parties have increasingly relied on executive power while lawmakers have too often allowed the White House to sideline Congress.
But he said the problem has become particularly acute during Trump’s second administration.
Tillis warned that America’s long democratic history can itself create complacency.
Because the system has survived for so long, he argued, Americans may underestimate how quickly those guardrails can disappear.
“It’s hard for the American people to understand how quickly we can lose it all,” he said.
Then the conversation turned to January 6.
Tillis called the breakdown of the peaceful transfer of power that day “despicable” and said he wished those who assaulted police officers were still serving lengthy prison sentences.
Douthat then asked the obvious question as another consequential election approaches: If Tillis remains disturbed by Trump’s behavior surrounding January 6, is he concerned about how Trump might respond if Republicans suffer a major defeat in November?
“I think there’s a risk, I really do,” Tillis replied.
The warning comes as Republicans face the possibility of significant losses in the midterms.
Tillis himself has described the potential outcome in even harsher terms, warning of an “electoral bloodbath” if Republicans fail to address voters’ concerns over bread-and-butter economic issues.
And Trump wasn’t the only target of Tillis’ criticism.
The senator unloaded on some of the people surrounding the president, arguing that Trump has been poorly served by advisers unwilling to challenge him.
He singled out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — whose confirmation Tillis now calls his “biggest regret” — and former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as examples of officials who, in his view, should never have received the authority they were given.
Tillis has repeatedly called for Trump to fire Hegseth.
The Republican senator is hardly becoming a Democrat.
He supported Trump’s Cabinet nominees, voted against convicting Trump following January 6, and continues to defend a number of the president’s policies.
That makes his warning more striking.
This isn’t coming from a Democratic leader or one of Trump’s longtime political enemies.
It is coming from a Republican senator who spent years working within Trump’s party — and who is now heading for the exits warning that Congress must start behaving like an independent branch of government before presidential power grows even further.
For Tillis, the danger isn’t theoretical.
His message to Americans was remarkably simple: the institutions that have protected American democracy for 250 years cannot be assumed to protect themselves.
About the Author
Senator Tillis is a hypocrite. He WARNS The U.S.A. of the dangers posed to everybody by Trumpism but he has DONE everything he can to strengthen Trumpism and make sure that succeeds in its endeavour to ruin The U.S.A. if not the whole Human Race. In any event The U.S.A. was is and always will be Black Only Slavery on Stolen Land Protected and Served by The Police and The Military unless you happen to be Rich “White” Male Anglo-Saxon Protestant and Politically Conservative. But “All born will taste death.” (Quran 21:35) and “At The End of The World The Elements will disintegrate in Flames…” (2nd Peter 3:10) and “I will fill Hell with Jinn and Humans altogether – A Multitude from Every Community.” (Quran 11:119) So Tillis and Trump can do whatever they want to do. They won’t “get away with” anything. Allah has got their number and will take care of everything and everyone in Due Time. Amen!?