CHARLOTTE — You might think Senator Thom Tillis is speaking more freely now that he isn’t running for re-election but Senator Tillis says that’s anything but the truth. He says he doesn’t regret his decision to not seek re-election and plans to keep working hard for his remaining 261 days in the US Senate.
Senator Tillis sat down for an interview with Channel 9 Government Reporter Joe Bruno Friday morning. The interview took place shortly after the announcement that the Strait of Hormuz has completely reopened. The announcement sent the Dow up and US oil prices down. Senator Tillis said it is imperative it stays that way.
“Those are international waters,” he said. “It’s not their water way to control and we probably should have asserted that a long time ago. I’m glad the President’s doing that.”
“Do you think we’re close to an end in Iran?” Bruno asked.
“That remains to be seen,” Senator Tillis said. “I do believe that Iran knows that the President is serious. And I communicated to the President over the weekend. I’m glad he made the decision to go into Iran. He’s the first president to have the guts to do it. But now the key is all about execution. It’s avoiding a ground war.”
After Border Patrol’s Operation Charlotte’s Web, Senator Tillis aggressively pushed the Department of Homeland Security for answers on who was detained, how long and whether they were released. This put him at odds with former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. He still hasn’t gotten those answers but says he isn’t letting this go
“Markwayne Mullin’s in place and he’s a friend of mine,” Tillis said. “I’ve communicated with him and said, I want to walk through this information and I want to confirm what I suspect that the numbers aren’t good and that’s exactly why Noem didn’t give it to me.”
“Do you think that he is going to provide you with that data?” Bruno asked.
“I do,” Tillis said. “And look I needed it because if I thought Noem was going to be there, then I needed it to force the issue of her incompetence but that just became readily available a lot sooner than I thought it would, which is why she’s not the Secretary of Homeland Security anymore. Now I want it to be used as a guide for how to do it right and things not to do.”
Senator Tillis opted to not run for re-election. That’s a decision he says he has never second guessed.
“I’m not like these people. I don’t get up every morning and get thrilled over the fact that I get called a senator,” he said. “I like going up there, doing my job and going home. I’m looking forward to going home.”
“What’s your assessment of the Whatley-Cooper race so far?” Bruno asked.
“We got a lot of work to do,” he said. “I mean, we’ve got a negative environment, which we would expect, because we’re in a midterm after the presidential election, but we also have some things that we’ve just got to clean up on our execution. The reason I voted against the so called One Big Beautiful Bill last year is it has health care policy that I thought needs to be refined. I’m hoping I can commence the leadership in the administration that we can adjust some of that before we get out of here. Otherwise, these purple states, they’ve got headwinds. We can win. I think we can keep a majority, but we could lose one or two seats.”
“Do you think Whatley is a candidate that can win?” Bruno asked.
“He’s going to have to be pitch perfect, and I would have to be also. I would just have the advantage of incumbency. This would be a tough race for me to win,” he said. “He’s got to be pitch perfect on the stump. You can’t make any mistakes. It’s got to be a flawless race to get all the puzzle pieces in place to win. I think Michael’s up to the task, but it’ll be unlike anything he’s ever done in his life.”
“Are you really done after this? Is there any chance that you will run for the 2028 North Carolina Gubernatorial race?” Bruno asked.
“I’ve had a chance to make an impact at the state level. I feel like I’ve had a chance to try and do some good at the federal level. And I don’t need to be elected, you know, to feel somehow fulfilled,” he said. “I’ve done a 20-year stint in public service. I feel like I’ve had a positive impact in most cases, and I’m ready to go on and have some other exciting new chapter in my life.”
Senator Tillis says he plans to spend more time with his family and seek a job in AI.
You can watch more of Senator Tillis’ interview next Sunday, April 26, on the Political Beat at 11:30 am and 11:30 pm on Channel 9 and 10:30 pm on TV64
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