Tillis stands by criticisms of Trump officials in new memoir

Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he stands by remarks about Trump administration officials in his new book, according to The Hill. CNN's Kaitlan Collins read the remarks from 'How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents,' The Hill reported. 'I stand by all that,' Tillis said, according to The Hill. 'What else you got?'

The Hill reported that, in remarks read by Collins, Tillis called his vote to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 'the biggest regret' of his career and said he should have stopped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from becoming health secretary. The Hill reported Tillis also said former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard 'won't be challenging anyone for president of her local Mensa chapter,' called former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a 'dog murderer,' and called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick 'nuttier than squirrel s—.'

Tillis, who is retiring at the end of his term, said he supports 'the majority of people' in the president's Cabinet, The Hill reported. When Collins said his comments covered the majority of top Trump administration officials, Tillis replied, 'The point is we hired them, we made a decision to put them in there. I'm giving them their annual review. They didn't pass, you cycle them out.' He added, 'Get somebody else, get somebody that can tell the president the truth, set the priorities right and get us reelected.'

Tillis said Trump is a populist who will do 'a good job of bringing out that base that's uniquely motivated by him' to vote in the upcoming November midterm elections, The Hill reported. He said traditional conservatives and traditional Republicans 'have to do their part to get the other folks out,' adding, 'you don't abandon your party.'

The Associated Press reported before the book's release on 6 October that Tillis wrote he does not have 'beef' with the president, only with 'the idiots he's got working for him,' according to The Hill. The New York Times reported the book details Tillis's regrets about backing Trump's agenda.

Tillis said on 5 October he was 'not at all' concerned about possible retaliation from the White House, The Hill reported. The Hill reported Trump had posted Senator Tom Cotton's phone number to Truth Social after Cotton opposed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. Tillis told ABC's 'The View' the book includes private text exchanges between him and the president, saying, 'all due respect, I got his number too.'