President Donald Trump took another shot at Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) on Friday, claiming the retiring senator ended his reelection campaign after being refused an endorsement.
Tillis, a frequent Trump critic, announced in June of last year that he would not seek a third term in the Senate. The president would go on to endorse Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, in the race to replace Tillis.
“People don’t remember that Thom Tillis, the weak and ineffective Senator from the Great State of North Carolina, a State I won, including primaries, 6 consecutive times, didn’t have the courage to fight it out in the Senate, remain in place, and run again for office, a thing he desperately wanted to do,” the president wrote on Truth Social Friday morning.
“I called him a ‘Nitpicker,’ always fighting against the Republican Party, and ME, mostly on things that didn’t matter,” he wrote. “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.’ I said, ‘Wow, great news, that was easy!’”
Trump claimed that media reports claimed that Tillis was “brave” for objecting to the president’s agenda but argued that Tillis “was just the opposite – HE WAS A QUITTER!
“Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party,” Trump said. “In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!”
Tillis did not respond to questions about the president’s comments on Friday.
Trump successfully orchestrated primary challenges this cycle against several Republican enemies, including Tillis, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). He also opted to endorse state Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican Texas Senate runoff earlier this week, all but ensuring the loss of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
THE ‘SECRET SAUCE’ BEHIND TRUMP’S MIDTERM PIVOT AWAY FROM PRIMARY VENGEANCE
In recent weeks, Trump’s relations with Senate Republicans have grown visibly strained. The caucus has resisted his calls to eliminate the filibuster ahead of the midterm elections and has failed to move the SAVE America Act, a Trump-backed election integrity bill, to the president’s desk.
Furthermore, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) opted to cancel a vote on the $70 billion Republican reconciliation bill before the Memorial Day holiday.
