North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis wants President Donald Trump to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but his demand immediately created another problem for the retiring senator: plenty of people remember who helped put Hegseth in the job.
In a lengthy post on X, Tillis praised outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll before turning sharply on Hegseth. The North Carolina senator accused the Pentagon chief of creating a leadership vacuum and said that after eight years working on the Senate Armed Services Committee, he had “never witnessed more inept management” of America’s military personnel.
Tillis saved one of his harshest lines for Hegseth personally, writing that he is “intimidated by competence” and spends too much time “ginning up culture wars” rather than concentrating on national defense. He finished by urging Trump to find a Pentagon leader who would retain military talent instead of driving it away.
According to The Independent, however, Tillis previously cast a pivotal vote to confirm Hegseth in January 2025. The Senate ultimately needed Vice President JD Vance to break a 50-50 tie. That history quickly became the focus of the online reaction.
North Carolina GOP Remind Tillis Who Confirmed Hegseth
Bulwark commentator Tim Miller quote-posted Tillis and offered perhaps the sharpest response: “You did this brother! Nobody made you put a clown atop the pentagon.” Former Obama adviser David Axelrod largely agreed with Tillis’ criticism of Hegseth but pointed directly back at the senator’s confirmation vote, arguing that much of what followed had been predictable when Tillis helped approve the nomination.
“You are completely spineless, an absolute coward beyond measure. You voted for this [expletive] Hegseth just as you voted for Blanche as AG. You did all this after Trump politically defecated and urinated all over you. Go back to North Carolina and never say anything publicly again.” said one angry user.
Not everyone sided with Tillis. Hegseth’s father, Brian Hegseth, jumped directly into the replies and dismissed the senator with: “You, sir are irrelevant.”
The sentiment, even in his own state of North Carolina, leaves Tillis in an awkward position: publicly making one of the strongest Republican cases yet for Hegseth’s removal while facing reminders from both sides that he helped make Hegseth’s confirmation possible in the first place.
