North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, 64, announced that he won’t seek re-election Sunday after President Donald Trump attacked him for not voting to advance his “big, beautiful bill.”
Trump directed his fury at Tillis after Senate Republicans narrowly voted to advance the MAGA figurehead’s sprawling spending package in a 51-49 vote Saturday night.
Tillis joined GOP Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul with Democrats to vote against advancing the bill, enraging Trump and his followers, Al Jazeera reported.
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According to Tillis, his main qualm with Trump’s spending package is the eye-watering $38.9 billion in federal Medicaid funding it would cost his state—along with a projected $4.2 trillion added to the national debt.
In order to scare Tillis into submission ahead of the July 4 deadline he gave the GOP to get the package signed and sealed, Trump threatened to support a North Carolina primary challenger in a Saturday Truth Social post.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump wrote on in a Truth Social post. “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.”
Trump warned that Tillis is making a “BIG MISTAKE for America” and continued his thoughts into Sunday with another attack directed at the senator’s track record in North Carolina.
“Thom Tillis has hurt the great people of North Carolina,” wrote Trump on Truth Social. “Even on the catastrophic flooding, nothing was done to help until I took office. Then a MIRACLE took place! Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!”
Moments later, Tillis called the president’s bluff and released a statement to announce that he was bowing out of all the “political theatre.”
“As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term,” Tillis said in the statement. “That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election.”
Tillis has held his Senate seat since 2015, besting first-term Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan in the race.
The Daily Beast has contacted Tillis for comment.
