At RFK Jr. hearing, NC’s Thom Tillis continues his capitulation to Donald Trump | Opinion
Try as he might, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis just can’t seem to summon the courage to stand up to Donald Trump.
That much was on display Wednesday as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced his first confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, of which Tillis is a member. During the hearing, Tillis gave Kennedy the opportunity to respond to allegations that he is a conspiracy theorist. Kennedy said the term is a “pejorative” used to keep him from “asking difficult questions of powerful interests.”
This would have been a great time for Tillis to mention that Kennedy has questioned whether HIV really causes AIDS, suggested that Lyme disease might actually be a bioweapon, insisted that coronavirus is ethnically targeted, claimed that chemicals present in our water are causing gender dysphoria and linked antidepressants to school shootings. Each of those beliefs could easily be classified as a conspiracy theory, and they’re something Kennedy should have to answer to if he wants to be in charge of public health.
Tillis didn’t ask about any of that, nor did he ask about any of Kennedy’s other questionable views on vaccines or pseudoscience. In fact, he didn’t challenge Kennedy at all, and was perfectly content to accept Kennedy’s answer at face value.
Tillis was apparently so content with the response that he posted a clip of the exchange on social media, praising Kennedy for “[knocking] this one out of the park” and accusing Democrats on the committee of intentionally limiting his ability to provide full answers.
In subsequent questions, Tillis expressed his support for Kennedy’s views on school lunches and SNAP benefits with a strange anecdote about inspecting the contents of cafeteria trash cans every time he visits an elementary school, and he appeared satisfied by Kennedy’s insistence that, if confirmed, he would not insert himself into scientific discussions. In response to questions from reporters outside the committee room, Tillis lauded Kennedy’s preparedness and response to Democrats “trying to attack him.”
All of that would be expected behavior from a staunch Trump ally. And it’s unfortunately the behavior one has come to expect from Tillis, who tends to fall in line with his party despite his occasional attempts to portray himself as an independent thinker. Time and again, Tillis has abandoned his principles for his party, all too willing to succumb to pressure when doing the right thing threatens his political career.
It’s something he’s already done with another controversial Trump nominee. Tillis voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary last week in what apparently was a last-minute flip-flop. According to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, Tillis urged Hegseth’s former sister-in-law to testify against him, personally assuring her that the testimony could impact the vote by persuading him and other Republican senators to vote against Hegseth’s confirmation. A day before the vote, Tillis informed GOP leaders that he would oppose Hegseth’s confirmation, Politico reported. Over the next 24 hours, Tillis was on the receiving end of a full-fledged pressure campaign that involved “attacking Tillis as a RINO and threatening a primary campaign against him,” according to Politico.
And in the end, it worked: Tillis cast his vote in Hegseth’s favor.
Based on what we heard Wednesday, it appears likely that Tillis will vote for Kennedy, too. The only thing that seems to be different this time around is that Tillis isn’t bothering to pretend that the outcome might be any different. The warning issued with Hegseth was clear: fall in line, or you’ll pay the price. By caving to Trump and his allies on Hegseth — and possibly now on Kennedy — Tillis hasn’t just lost his credibility with voters. He’s also lost it with Trump, who can now reasonably assume that any attempts by Tillis to challenge his agenda don’t actually carry any weight. Instead of being a check on the president’s power, he’ll just be another enabler.
To Tillis’ credit, he was rightfully critical of Trump’s pardons of violent Jan. 6 defendants last week, calling it a “bad idea.” But it’s a lot easier to speak up about something after it’s already happened than it is to be the one who stops a bad thing from happening in the first place. The latter is something Tillis has rarely had the courage to do in his political career, even when he wants to, and even when he knows he should. Don’t expect him to start now.
