Raleigh – A new fact check from PolitiFact confirmed that Senator Tillis supported President Trump’s emergency declaration, which allowed the administration to raid $80 million from North Carolina military projects. This is the second fact check Tillis has earned on the emergency declaration, receiving a “Full Flop” from PolitiFact’s Flip-O-Meter earlier this year.

The fact check also undercut every weak argument from Senator Tillis trying to explain away his flip-flop. From arguing that the White House agreed to have “a serious discussion” about the National Emergencies Act – the measure “has stalled in the Senate since” because it was never serious to begin with – to claiming that Fort Bragg wouldn’t actually be hurt by the loss of funding despite having “several urgent needs, including a $21 million fire station,” Tillis has yet to explain to his constituents why he caved to the administration.

His spineless flip-flop has earned him more than fact checks. He’s facing “battles on two fronts” including a primary challenge that’s “a lot more competitive than a lot of folks in Washington know” and forcing him to spend millions on ads. He’s earned rounds of negative criticism from editorial boards and voters across the state. And he’s been met with boos from Republican primary voters.

PolitiFact: Did Thom Tillis vote to let Trump administration raid $80 million from NC military projects?
By Julianna Rennie
November 6th, 2019

Key Points:

• Democrats say President Trump’s border wall has raided North Carolina of $80 million for military projects with the support of the state’s Republican senator Thom Tillis.

• The move angered some members of Congress who believed that Trump was abusing the National Emergencies Act. Tillis even wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post that said the emergency declaration “was not the right answer.”

• But when Congress voted to overturn the emergency declaration in March, Tillis sided with Trump. He voted to uphold the president’s action both times. (The reversal earned Tillis a Full Flop on PolitiFact’s Flip-O-Meter.)

• The Pentagon listed each project affected by the national emergency at the southern border. It includes four at North Carolina military bases, and they do in fact total $80 million as the DSCC claims.

• The North Carolina projects are a new battalion complex and ambulatory care center at Camp Lejeune, an elementary school at Fort Bragg, and a tanker storage facility at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

• The DSCC said Tillis supported Trump’s emergency declaration, which enabled the administration to raid $80 million from North Carolina military projects.

• The group is correct that the Trump administration diverted $80 million that had been appropriated by Congress for four military projects in North Carolina.

• We rate it Mostly True.