Trump threatens to back Tillis primary challengers after ‘no’ vote on big, beautiful bill
President Trump went after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in a Saturday night Truth Social post, threatening that he would back a primary challenger running against the North Carolina senator after Tillis came out against the GOP’s sprawling “big, beautiful bill.”
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom' Tillis,” Trump wrote. “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.”
The president slammed the North Carolina senator for his opposition to Trump’s pet piece of legislation.
“Looks like Senator Thom Tillis, as usual, wants to tell the Nation that he’s giving them a 68% Tax Increase, as opposed to the Biggest Tax Cut in American History,” Trump wrote in an earlier post. “Thom Tillis is making a BIG MISTAKE for America, and the Wonderful People of North Carolina!”
Tillis said in a statement earlier Saturday that he could not support the Senate version of the bill because of its “devastating” cuts to Medicaid.
“It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities,” he wrote. “This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population.”
Trump did not address cuts to Medicaid in his Truth Social post, instead touting the bill’s elimination of taxes on tips and support of “Farmers, Manufacturers and, Employment, in general.”
Tillis said he could instead support the House’s version of the bill, which includes work requirements for Medicaid.
The Senate GOP can afford to lose at most three votes on the megabill. So far, Sens. Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) have voted against the bill, along with Tillis.
An initial vote to proceed on the bill opened Saturday night, with several key holdouts still undecided after more than two hours.
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