North Carolina’s unserious Republicans

Thom Tillis is telling on himself in a book tour and the GOP legislature is trying to stave off defeat by playing politics with tax policy.

This week highlights how unserious North Carolina’s Republican Party really is. Panicking Republicans are heading back into a special legislative session to suspend the gas tax in an attempt to staunch the GOP bleeding caused by rising fuel prices. Thom Tillis is on a book tour that exposes him as more of a charlatan than a serious political thinker.

As Tillis goes on various cable news outlets, he shows how disappointing he is as a senator. He loves the idea of being the Republican rebel but always ends up being the Republican toady. Tillis likes to brag about the things he says but is mostly quiet about the things he actually does. He proves, over and over again, that he knows what’s right and does what’s wrong.

In particular, Tillis voted for the most incompetent Cabinet in modern history. He claims that supporting Pete Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of defense is his biggest regret, and he defends it by saying, essentially, “If I only knew then what I know now.” But he did know. We all did, and if he couldn’t see it then, that really speaks to his judgment—or lack thereof.

In his interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Tillis reveals his tribalist nature. He blasts the cabinet members he supported and admits that Republicans have caused their own problems, but says that electing Republicans is the most important issue. He seems to think that Trumpism is a passing fancy and that he and people like him will lead the party back to Reagan conservatism. In other words, he’s delusional.

In the legislature, Republicans are throwing a Hail Mary, trying to ease the anger over rising gas prices. It’s a nakedly political move that will get them little credit but ultimately cost the state. It also highlights their cynicism and hypocrisy.

Four years ago, when gas prices were putting pressure on consumers, the Republican-led legislature refused to act. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s office said, “If President Biden is serious about easing the burden on working families he should re-evaluate his administration’s policies that have led to surging prices at the gas pump.” If Berger really believed what he said, he should apply the same standard to Trump.

North Carolina Republicans aren’t serious people. They are desperate people. Tillis is milking his final moments in the limelight. He loves attention, and he’s trying to shape his reputation as a renegade when in reality he was mostly just a coward. He made a lot of noise about standing on principle but almost always chose politics instead. Republicans in the legislature are casting desperate votes that only highlight how badly GOP policies have damaged the country. They are in Raleigh today because of Trump, not because of gas prices.

Tillis wants to be remembered as a rebel, and the legislature wants to be seen as fighting for you. Neither is true, and in four weeks voters get to say so.