President Trump on Sunday celebrated Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-N.C.) announcement that he wouldn’t seek reelection next year.
“Great News!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening.
The North Carolina senator abruptly announced his plans earlier in the day amid a days-long spat with the president over Tillis’s opposition to the GOP’s massive tax and spending bill. He was one of two Republicans to vote against advancing the measure on Saturday night.
He has cried foul over Medicaid cuts that he says will cost the Tar Heel State more than $30 billion, preferring the Medicaid language in the House-passed bill.
This drew the ire of Trump, who responded by threatening to support a primary challenger against the two-term Senate Republican.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump wrote. “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.”
He also railed against Tillis on Sunday ahead of the reelection decision, labeling him a “talker and complainer, not a doer.”
Tillis said in a statement announcing his retirement that he hadn’t been excited about the prospect of seeking a third term and indicated that he is looking forward to having newfound political freedom.
“As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term,” he said. “That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home.”
“It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re-election,” he said. “I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit and representing the great people of North Carolina to the best of my ability.”
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