During his time on Capitol Hill, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has garnered a reputation for helping Democrats advance their preferred narratives and policies. So, it wasn’t exactly shocking when the Tarheel State’s senior senator gifted his leftist colleagues a talking point to defend the childish antics of Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, Tillis mentioned last week’s incident involving Padilla, in which the California Democrat is shown abruptly rushing towards Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during the latter’s press conference. As The Federalist’s Eddie Scarry reported, Padilla did not announce himself until after being intercepted by security, who subsequently escorted him from the room and “forced [him] to the ground where he was handcuffed.”
In his remarks, Tillis said he considers Padilla to be “a friend,” and that “his emotions were at a 10 because some of the things that he’s seen occurring in terms of ICE detention, ICE raids.” The North Carolina Republican added that he “agrees and disagrees” with his Democrat colleague “on some of the policy,” but did not offer specifics. He then gently criticized Padilla’s actions.
“We’ve got to get to a point where elected officials have to take some responsibility for their actions,” Tillis said. “I wonder if we’re actually saying it’s OK for me to run out here and interrupt Sen. Schumer while he’s giving his opening statements to a presser to ask him a question. … I think that that’s inappropriate. I think it would be inappropriate to do it to my Democrat colleagues up in the press room …”
But Tillis wasn’t done. In a sheer act of stupidity, the Tarheel State senator had the gall to blame “both sides” for the incident, claiming they both “own some responsibility for what happened.”
“Sen. Padilla should have found a better way to elevate his concerns to the secretary of homeland security rather than going in there and having that dust-up. Having said that, there were clearly people in that building that knew he was a U.S. senator,” Tillis said. “So, the minute that he was removed from that situation in that briefing room, then they should have treated him with respect and allowed him to disperse. It was disgusting to me to see somebody wrestled to the floor, anybody, but particularly a U.S. senator that’s in a federal building.”
“If you want to make a difference, then come to the Senate floor and try to figure out how to get your policies through. That’s how this place should work,” he added.
Sorry, but in exactly what world is Tillis living in where Noem’s security team is to blame for this charade?
It was Padilla who made the dumb decision to aggressively approach a cabinet member unannounced — and during a time of leftist-led assassination attempts, threats, and violence, no less. Noem’s security guards were simply doing the job they were hired to do and reacted accordingly.
[READ: Thom Tillis Wants You To Forget His Role In Tanking Ed Martin’s D.C. Attorney Nomination]
And exactly how were these officers supposed to know who Padilla was prior to detaining him? There are more than 500 members of Congress, and Tillis seems to assume Noem’s security should be required to know what each of them looks like or blindly trust anyone vouching for their identities.
Even if Padilla had declared he was a senator prior to interrupting Noem, there’s no way for her security to definitively know whether he’s telling the truth. In the heat of the moment, all they see is a loud, angry man making his way toward the woman they were assigned to protect.
But none of these points appear to matter to Tillis.
The GOP senator seems perfectly content with portraying Democrats’ useful idiot in their latest fake production. And much to the disappointment of viewers at home, it’s a role he’s played many times before.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
