An outgoing senator’s litmus test for advancing a nominee out of committee was met with a sharp rebuke and a reality check from President Donald Trump.
Weeks after Pam Bondi stepped down from her role as attorney general, Todd Blanche’s efforts as acting attorney general proved sufficient to earn him the executive’s nomination to take on the position of top cop in earnest. As with other nominees, the chief obstacle was shaping up to be congressional RINOs with Trump declaring North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R) a “loser, stone cold.”
The statement came Friday aboard Air Force One when a reporter asked for a reaction regarding the senator’s insistence that opinions related to the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021 be used as a determining factor in moving nominees out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Senator Tillis said he won’t support Todd Blanche’s confirmation unless Todd Blanche condemns January 6th,” said the reporter as Trump responded, “Senator Tills is a loser.”
🚨 President Trump just WENT OFF on RINO Sen. Thom Tillis, who 47 ran out of office
Now, Tillis’ only focus on screwing POTUS and America on his way out
“Senator Tillis is a LOSER, stone cold, and he’s an angry because I basically— he was forced to leave the Senate because I… pic.twitter.com/4H1eZ0TgZ2
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 5, 2026
“That’s why he didn’t run,” continued the president. “He didn’t run because I wouldn’t support him. And he’s just an angry man because he’s not gonna be a senator any longer. He wasn’t respected in the Senate. He fought a lot of people. He fought Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth turned out to be a gem.”
“No, Senator Tillis is a loser, stone cold,” Trump reiterated. “He’s an angry man because I basically — he was forced to leave the Senate because I wouldn’t support him, and he quit. So now he’s trying to make trouble by opposing anybody. Todd Blanche is a brilliant guy who everybody likes and everybody respects.
“And Tillis is always like I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that. He should have done it before when he was a senator. He would have gotten wiped out in a race. But he needed my support. And I said, I can’t give you my support. He’s not qualified. He’s not, he’s not good for the position of senator,” continued the president, who, after stating that he hadn’t heard Tillis’ position on Blanche, added, “Todd Blanche is fantastic.”
Following the Wednesday announcement that Blanche received the nomination to succeed Bondi, the senator spoke with reporters, including CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, on Thursday and expressed, in part, “The key for Todd or for anybody going through the Judiciary Committee is being pretty tight on January the 6th.”
“They better not have said for one minute that the people that beat up police officers, like these right down here, were righteous people,” continued Tillis. “You come even close to saying that, you don’t have a [chance] of getting my vote in Judiciary.”
Thom Tillis, walking into my live shot, makes news on two fronts.
He says he’s a NO on Trump’s immigration bill without amendment killing weaponization fund.
He warns he’s a NO on Blanche if any equivocation on J6.
If there is, “you don’t even have a (chance) of getting my vote” pic.twitter.com/AYfXxHNCgz— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 4, 2026
The posturing from the senator, who’d opted against seeking re-election this year, came amid debate on the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund being used to dole out compensation for J6ers. Ultimately, as Blanche testified to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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