Dem
47
GOP
53
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is not running for reelection. This means Donald Trump's usual way to silence Republican politicians—threaten them with a primary—doesn't work against Tillis, and Tillis knows it. Now he is free to speak his mind and is starting to do it. Trump is not going to like it.
In a long tweet on eX-Twitter, he called Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem sycophants, which he said is worse than "yes-men" (and "yes-women"). He gave as synomyms "toady," "flunky," and "bootlicker." He compared Miller to Grima Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings books and Noem to Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter. This is not entirely salient because Umbridge surrounded herself with cats, not dogs, and she never executed any of them.
Tillis also has joined Democrats in calling for Noem to resign or be fired. He said: "What [Noem] has done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job. It's just amateur-ish. It's terrible. This is amateur hour at its worst."
So far, Tillis hasn't gotten up the nerve to criticize Trump directly, but he will still be senator for another 11 months. Who knows, he might get around to it. He has nothing to lose at this point. (V)