Politicians sinking to petty name-calling is nothing new, particularly when it can help boost their net worth.
Nevertheless, Sen. Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) new book, and the promotion surrounding it, has taken a particularly cynical approach to President Donald Trump and his supporters.
The North Carolina lawmaker fittingly appeared on MS NOW for one of the bitterest anti-Trump rants from a Republican in recent memory.
As Breitbart reported:
“The big problem I have with this administration are people who are not protecting the president and are not giving him unvarnished advice,” he added.
He continued defending Blanche against attacks from the hosts, who repeatedly brought up the acting AG’s previous work as President Trump’s personal attorney and suggested he should be barred from confirmation.
Tillis said President Trump “has a right” to be angry at President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama and suggested that “hyper-prosecution” got him elected in 2024.
Now, cashing in on his way out of the U.S. Senate this year, Tillis announced his book is titled “How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents: The Trouble with Sychophants, Courage Outsourcing, and Partisan Groupthink.”
In promotional material from the book publisher, the book promises a “bare-knuckled, darkly funny wake-up call” from “a true conservative who doesn’t mind a good scrap in a Congress that has lost its nerve.”
“Tillis takes us into a world of grifting sycophants and useful idiots in Trump 2.0, with the inner circle made up of ‘MAGATS’ (a term of his own devising),” the publisher adds.
The remarks received some social media criticism:
Loser .. MAGA are not Republicans.. WE ARE CONSERVATIVE MAGA .. Republican party is no more. You’re either a Maga libertarian independent or rhino democrat
— Livid Musician (@LividMusician) August 6, 2026
Your JOB is represent the people legislatively, not judge the advice given to the Executive !!! PASS THE SAVE ACT…. Represent NC citizens. Do SOMETHING memorable before you are swept into the dust bin of history !!
— BRC (@B24Uall) August 6, 2026
Pass the save act and stop being a roadblock to everything Trump supports.
— TJ NANCE (@TJNANCE493241) August 6, 2026
You sold out America, took bribes from Maduro and we know!
— angela thomas (@angelathomas22) August 6, 2026
Politico added:
Tillis has clashed publicly with the president and members of his administration, particularly after Trump effectively forced him into retirement. In an interview with MS NOW on Thursday, Tillis said those individuals — whom he dubs as “MAGATS” in his book — “are not giving the president honest advice and putting us in positions that we could avoid.”
“I’m talking about people who have never worked a day in business, who now have business strategy, decision-making roles, and they’re simply not looking around corners and taking care of this president,” Tillis said. “Those are the people I want to expose in this book.”
Tillis has publicly criticized members of Trump’s administration including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought; onetime acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte; and Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. His most recent break with the president was his refusal to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche until he agreed to eliminate Trump’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.
But Tillis, who announced last year he would not seek reelection after serving two terms in the upper chamber, emphasized on Thursday that he hopes to help Republicans maintain their slim majority.
Here’s some additional context:
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