Local editorial: GOP senator sacrificing 'every last shred of integrity'

A North Carolina news station skewered Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a vulnerable senator up for reelection in 2020, in an editorial on Wednesday for his weak and impotent refusal to stand up to Trump.

After noting that Trump recently surpassed the grim milestone of telling more than 10,000 lies, the editorial turned its attention to Tillis and the state’s other Republican senator, Richard Burr.

“Policies and billion-dollar decisions are being made based on these false claims and the blind loyalty [of] too many in Congress,” Capitol Broadcasting Company (CPC) wrote in an editorial posted on WRAL’s website. “That’s particularly true for North Carolina senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis — who bow to partisan expediency above reason and truth.”

The news organization was particularly disappointed in Tillis for his epic flip-flop on Trump’s false declaration of a national emergency over the U.S.-Mexico border.

Right after Trump declared the fake emergency, Tillis boldly declared he would stand on principle and vote to oppose the emergency declaration. But a few weeks later, Tillis caved to pressure from the far-right fringes of the Republican Party, reversed his position, and placed the whims of Trump ahead of his oath to the U.S. Constitution.

At the time of the vote, rumors swirled that prominent conservatives were contemplating challenging Tillis in a primary battle. The rumors panned out, as retired businessman Garland Tucker III launched a primary campaign in early May.

CPC asked rhetorically whether Tillis is “so intimidated by a primary challenge that he’ll sacrifice every last shred of integrity.”

CPC called on both Tillis and Burr to put the country and the Constitution above their loyalty to Trump.

“Burr and Tillis must stand up to Trump’s lies, stand with the Senate and the legislative branch of government,” the editorial stated. “Sacrificing their integrity for momentary expedience is too high a price to pay for the long-term damage of Trump’s dishonesty.”

Yet sacrificing whatever integrity he has is exactly what Tillis continues to do, over and over again.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.