June 3, 2020/Press

Tillis Was Challenged to Stand Up to Trump. You’ll Never Guess What Happened Next.

Yesterday, in a scathing, must-read editorial, Senator Tillis was challenged by his hometown paper to disavow the president’s use of tear gas on peaceful protestors for a photo op. “Can Tillis rise to the moment this time?,” the Charlotte Observer wrote.

Now we have our answer – and it’s a definitive “no.”

Asked multiple times to disavow the president’s actions, Senator Tillis “sidestepped the question” and “did not say whether he supported the idea of using military force on demonstrators” — even as other officials, including the defense secretary, broke with Trump.

North Carolinians are used to Tillis shrinking away when asked to stand up to the president and for our state. Tillis “did not disavow” the president’s dangerous comments suggesting people drink bleach. He voted three times to allow an $80 million raid on North Carolina’s military bases after promising to stand “on principle” against it.

Now, we can add one more to Tillis’ endless list of “embarrassing episodes” – refusing to stand up to the president as he takes our country “down a dangerous road.”

“This is the Senator Tillis North Carolinians are all too aware of – a spineless career politician who’s too afraid of the president to speak out and who puts his reelection before what’s best for our state,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said.

Read the full Charlotte Observer editorial online here.