Thom Tillis does the right thing on a Trump nominee — in a very Thom Tillis way | Opinion
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis is finally standing up to one of Donald Trump’s nominees.
He said Tuesday that he told the White House he would oppose the nomination of right-wing activist Ed Martin as the top U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.. Martin had virtually no prosecutorial experience before being named to the role on an interim basis in January, and he has since used the office to dismiss Jan. 6 cases and fire federal prosecutors that worked on them. Before that, he helped organize the Stop the Steal movement that laid the foundation for Jan. 6.
Tillis’ opposition means Martin’s nomination is unlikely to advance out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Tillis is a member.
“I have no tolerance for anyone who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” Tillis told reporters Tuesday.
It’s the right thing to do. Martin is unqualified to serve in this position or any other that requires him to be an arbiter of justice. Unfortunately, that’s not something Tillis was entirely willing to admit.
“If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any other district except the district where January the 6th happened, I’d probably support him,” Tillis said. “But not in this district.”
That’s some pretty serious mental gymnastics. If Martin can’t agree that Jan. 6 was morally and legally wrong, or that those involved should face consequences for breaking the law, that should disqualify him from any prosecutorial role in any jurisdiction.
Sure, it may seem like splitting hairs. Regardless of his reasoning, Tillis is doing the right thing, and it will have the right result. But it’s also perfectly demonstrative of the fence-sitting Tillis has become known for throughout his political career.
If Tillis thought that this hedging would soften the blow to the MAGA wing of his party, he was wrong. They don’t care that he didn’t offer a full-throated criticism of Martin and his lack of credentials. They care only that he’s opposing him in the first place. Right-wingers on social media, including prominent Trump allies, have blasted Tillis for the decision, calling him a RINO and a traitor. They’ve called him a pawn. They’ve called for him to be removed from the committee and replaced with someone more loyal to Trump, or to suffer a loss in his upcoming primary, thus ending his political career. Some have pointed to Tillis’ comment and said that it’s proof of corruption, because if he believes Martin is qualified, why wouldn’t he support him?
It’s a sobering indictment of our current political climate that Tillis would be so thoroughly skewered by his own party for simply doing the right thing. But it also shows how trying to placate the MAGA movement is fruitless. No matter how often he votes with them, they will never support him unless he fully and completely votes with them without even an ounce of hesitation. Recall the nomination of Pete Hegseth, which Tillis came close to voting against beige ultimately caving to political pressure. He did what his fellow Republicans wanted in the end, but his initial opposition was enough to earn their disdain, despite what came after.
Tillis does deserve credit for his unequivocal condemnation of Jan. 6. While that may seem like the bare minimum, it’s something we sadly don’t see often from Republicans these days.
“We have to be very, very clear that what happened on January the 6th was wrong,” Tillis said Tuesday. “It was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol, and I can’t have any patience for that.”
Those are strong and important words from a Republican senator, especially one as influential as Tillis. It displays exactly the kind of principle that people in North Carolina have long wished for Tillis to have. But if he truly believes that what happened on Jan. 6 was reprehensible, he should be able to admit that anyone who defends it does not deserve to hold any kind of public role.
