August 24, 2020/Media

Tillis “No-Show” for RNC in His Hometown After Being Snubbed

When the Republican National Convention announced their speakers yesterday afternoon, there was a major omission in the programming — Senator Thom Tillis. Tillis will be a “no-show” when President Trump visits his hometown today and has no speaking role for the televised portions of the RNC, despite being one of the most vulnerable Senators in the country and the convention being held in his backyard.

Senator Tillis still has a lot of room to make up with base Republican voters — exactly the type of voter he’d reach in a televised address at his party’s convention. Recent polls found Tillis is 20 points behind Trump with base voters and running worse with Republican voters than any other vulnerable Republican senator up this cycle. It’s a familiar position for Tillis. He’s been unable to win back base voters all cycle, who have booed him at multiple Trump rallies and blasted him as “wishy-washy” and a “snake.” In 2014, conservative activists criticized him as “in the pocket of special interest” and said, “If Tillis loses by one vote, then so be it.”

“Ouch!,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said. “Senator Tillis is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country and still has serious work to make up with Republican voters in the state, yet he can’t even score a ticket to the national convention that’s happening in his hometown. Not even Republicans like Thom Tillis.”

Charlotte Observer: Tillis will be a no-show Monday when Trump thanks RNC delegates in Charlotte
By Tim Funk
August 23, 2020

Key Points:

  • He’s in the middle of one of the most contested Senate races in the country as Republicans battle to keep control of the upper chamber. And he’s been a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and an advocate to bring the 2020 Republican National Convention to Charlotte.
  • But U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., will be a no-show Monday when Trump stops at the Charlotte Convention Center to thank the 336 RNC delegates meeting there for nominating him to a second term.
  • Tillis will be in Charlotte on Monday, his campaign said. But he scheduled another event at noon — the same time Trump is expected to greet the delegates at the scaled-back Charlotte portion of this week’s GOP convention.
  • Why is Tillis not joining Trump and the delegates?
  • “Senator Tillis has no role in the official business occurring at the convention tomorrow,” his spokesman Andrew Romeo said in a statement Sunday.
  • Besides missing Trump in Charlotte, Tillis is not on the list of speakers for the televised portions of the Republican National Convention, which will run Monday through Thursday nights.

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