Trump threatens backing primary challenge against GOP Sen. Thom Tillis over his 'big, beautiful bill' vote
Source: NBC News
June 28, 2025, 11:08 PM EDT
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday attacked Sen. Thom Tillis for opposing the party's sweeping domestic policy bill, threatening to meet with potential primary challengers to the North Carolina Republican. Tillis, who faces re-election next year in a battleground state, was one of two Republicans, along with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, to vote against advancing the "big, beautiful bill" in the Senate Saturday evening.
"Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against 'Senator Thom' Tillis," Trump wrote Saturday night. "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."
Trump' social media criticism came hours after Tillis said in a statement that he "cannot support this bill in its current form," pointing to expected cuts to Medicaid he said would "result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities."
Trump accused the two-term senator of grandstanding "in order to get some publicity for himself, for a possible, but very difficult re-election."
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/trump-threatens-backing-primary-challenge-gop-sen-thom-tillis-big-bea-rcna215769
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