The Silly Spectacle of Thom Tillis, Suck-Up

 

Sunday morning Thom Tillis published this photoshopped montage on his Twitter feed, with the title "January 20th," as though Trump were the dignified scourge of God marching toward Bethlehem to be born on Inauguration Day Number 2, intimating that the Trump retribution is exactly what the senior senator has been waiting for. The horse-laughs on Twitter that this post occasioned haven't stopped. For example: "Damn Thom, you are funny as hell this morning! You know we’re all laughing at your RINO ass!!!"

We chalk up Tillis's transparent attempt to impersonate MAGA to the fact he's already running for his seat in the 2026 Republican primary. I enjoyed Alexander H. Jones's take on Tillis's chances in that primary, published on his New Branchhead substack, titled "Thom Tillis Doesn't Stand a Chance in a Primary":

Thom Tillis’s political career has been built upon sheer serendipity. Hobbling into his first election with a severely battered image, he reaped the electoral windfall of an imaginary Ebola epidemic to upset Democrat Kay Hagan. He won reelection because his opponent was a cad. For the last ten years, the fates have compensated this unimpressive man for his complete lack of political talent.

It may be that Tillis’s best—or perhaps even only—hope to remain in the US Senate after 2026 will be for this long string of fortunate events to continue. That’s because he will face a primary from Mark Robinson or another MAGA fire-eater that the lackluster incumbent has minimal chance of surviving. Republican voters, always unsatisfied with Tillis, will have their first real chance to eject the man from office. In a Republican primary, Tillis won’t stand a chance.