President Donald Trump escalated his war with Republican dissenters on Friday, branding Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) “a loser” after the outgoing lawmaker threatened to block the nomination of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche unless Blanche unequivocally condemns the January 6 Capitol attack.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump unloaded on Tillis, who announced he would not seek reelection. “Sen. Tillis is a loser. He didn’t run because I wouldn’t support him,” Trump said, adding that Tillis is “just an angry man because he’s not going to be a senator any longer.” The president claimed Tillis “wasn’t respected in the Senate” and “fought a lot of people,” attributing his departure to Trump’s withheld endorsement.
Trump reserved praise for Blanche, calling him “a brilliant guy who everybody likes and everybody respects.” The acting attorney general, a longtime Trump ally, faces a confirmation battle in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Tillis holds a key vote.
Earlier this week, Tillis laid down a clear marker: he would oppose Blanche unless the nominee explicitly denounces the January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. “The key for Todd or for anybody going through the Judiciary Committee is being pretty tight on January the 6th,” Tillis told reporters on Capitol Hill. “They better not have said for one minute that the people who beat up police officers, like these right down here, were righteous people. You come even close to saying that, you don’t have a [chance] of getting my vote in Judiciary.”
This clash is the latest in a pattern of defiance from Tillis, who has become one of the more vocal GOP critics of Trump in the upper chamber. The North Carolina senator has not shied away from crossing the president on key votes, including siding with Democrats to block construction of Trump’s ballroom without congressional authorization and opposing efforts to revive a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund aimed at compensating MAGA allies who claim Justice Department persecution. Those moves have placed him squarely in the crosshairs of Trump and his allies, as highlighted in the broader bipartisan backlash stalling Trump’s agenda.
Tillis is among a cohort of Republican senators who have opted not to run for reelection or lost primaries to Trump-backed challengers, reflecting the president’s tightening grip on the party. His departure signals a shift in the Senate’s dynamics, with fewer institutionalists willing to buck the White House. The ballroom dispute, which has drawn legal scrutiny, remains a flashpoint: an appeals panel recently signaled doubt about Trump’s authority to proceed without congressional approval.
As the Blanche nomination moves forward, Tillis’s stance could complicate an otherwise straightforward confirmation. Trump’s personal attack underscores the high stakes: loyalty to the president’s narrative on January 6 is now a litmus test for administration posts. For Tillis, a senator with little to lose politically, the gamble may be about principle rather than survival. But in a party increasingly aligned with Trump, his rebellion may be the last of its kind.
