North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis continues to make occasional feints in the direction of moderation — be it on Russian meddling or immigration — but they invariably turn out to be only that: mere feints.
When the rubber meets the road, the junior Senator from North Carolina remains a loyal Trumpist — be it in the repeated votes he takes in the Senate to back Trump’s irresponsible policies and dreadful nominees, or in the political rhetoric he uses to rouse his supporters. If you have any doubts about this, check out the most recent email fundraiser distributed by “Team Tillis” entitled: “Does the President Trump have your approval.”
The body of the email is chock-full of absurd pro-Trump propaganda statements (e.g. “We want to hear from dedicated patriots like you so that we can continue the fight for your conservative values” and “In the last two years, President Trump has enacted historic tax cuts, created millions of jobs, increased funding for our military and veterans, appointed two constitutionalist Supreme Court justices and overseen the best economic recovery in modern history.”)
Then, in true scientific fashion, Tillis purports to ask his supporters to link to and complete a “poll” that has only one question and that is superimposed over a flattering picture of the Great Prevaricator himself. The question reads: “We’d like to know from people like you: Do you approve of President Trump’s job performance? Respondents have two choices: “Yes! MAGA!” and “No.”
The bottom line: As has always been his wont, Thom Tillis can do a credible job of sounding something like a semi-reasonable politician when it suits him. Unfortunately, like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football every year, we are repeatedly and rudely reminded by Tillis every time we begin to listen to such talk that it is all a scam merely designed to soften the image of a man who has already embraced Trumpism for all he is worth.
Regardless of whether he knows better or not, Thom Tillis has made it utterly plain where he stands and it is with Trump. North Carolinians would do well to remember this hard truth the next time Tillis makes another one of his disingenuous feints.
Rob Schofield is director of N.C. Policy Watch and has three decades of experience as a lawyer, lobbyist, writer and commentator. Republished from ncpolicywatch.com.
