(DC Pundit) – Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina just found out the hard way that crossing President Donald Trump and the America First agenda doesn’t pay, unless he’s planning to cash out with a gig on CNN or MSNBC.
After opposing Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” — not because it spent too much, but because it didn’t spend enough — Tillis announced late Sunday that he won’t be seeking a third term in the Senate. That’s right: the same guy who voted with Biden’s Democrats nearly half the time suddenly discovered a burning desire to “spend more time with family.” Or maybe just less time with angry voters in a Republican primary.
Tillis’s issue with the bill? He claimed it didn’t shovel enough taxpayer dollars into Medicaid. “What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore?” he asked. Maybe tell them the truth: Trump is trying to get America’s finances in order, not keep the entitlement faucet running until the country drowns in red ink.
Let’s not forget that Tillis has made a career out of cozying up to Democrats and playing nice with the D.C. swamp. He’s “most proud of … the bipartisan victories” during his Senate career. Translation: he’s proud of how many times he helped advance the Biden agenda while wearing a GOP lapel pin.
Trump, not one to tolerate backstabbing in the ranks, had enough. Over the weekend, the president torched Tillis, calling him a “talker and complainer” who somehow managed to be more annoying than even Rand Paul, that’s saying something. While Paul’s opposition to the bill came from a principled libertarian stance, Tillis’s whining came straight from the Mitch McConnell School of Big Government.
On Truth Social, Trump made it clear he wasn’t going to let this one slide: “Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” he posted Saturday night. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump announces he will be meeting with PRIMARY CHALLENGER contenders against Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), after Tillis voted not to advance the Big Beautiful Bill.
Talk about a FAFO moment.
"I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for… pic.twitter.com/bgbUAY3xf2
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 29, 2025
Translation: Tillis was about to get primaried into retirement. So rather than face an embarrassing loss, he preemptively bowed out.
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) June 29, 2025
And let’s be clear, he had it coming. Thom Tillis voted for the $1 trillion “Infrastructure Bill,” which basically operated like a legalized money-laundering operation for leftist pet projects. He sided with the Democrats 40% of the time, so when he voted against Trump’s latest legislative push, the MAGA base had no problem showing him the door.
Well well well…
Thom Tillis voted for the Biden agenda more than almost every Republican.
40% of the time he voted with the Dems.
Thom voted for the $1 trillion money laundering “Infrastructure Bill”.
Now Tillis votes against POTUS Trump’s and MAGA agenda.
He’s got to go. pic.twitter.com/mY2bmY8wP2
— C3 (@C_3C_3) June 29, 2025
Thom Tillis routinely fought to increase American intervention abroad while rejecting border security at home. He has also been a chief obstacle to the timely confirmation of President Trump’s nominees.
His retirement is a golden opportunity to make North Carolina’s senators… pic.twitter.com/lrFL9Vaz5E
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 29, 2025
Back in the old days, a Republican could get away with talking tough back home while caving in on the Senate floor. Not anymore. President Trump has reshaped the Republican Party into a pro-America, pro-worker, anti-swamp movement. If you’re not fully on board, you’ll be shown the exit, quickly and without apology.
Tillis stood in the way of the Trump agenda, and now he’s standing down. It’s not a loss for conservatives, it’s a win. The message is clear: if you’re going to call yourself a Republican, you’d better mean it. Otherwise, the MAGA movement will replace you with someone who does.
Copyright 2025. DCPundit.com | Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore
