This Republican is fed up with Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller—and Trump

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina

GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina spoke to reporters Wednesday about the ongoing terror in Minnesota, blaming Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and senior adviser Stephen Miller for their “incompetence” driving the calamity.

“The president called you a loser, I believe,” CNN reporter Manu Raju told Tillis. 

“I am thrilled about that,” Tillis retorted. “That makes me qualified to be Homeland Security secretary and senior adviser to the president.” 

Tillis: Noem “asleep at the switch” and “doing DOGE shit and causing people not to get badly needed resources down there. She clearly doesn't know how to manage”

On Trump calling him a loser. “That makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser” to POTUS pic.twitter.com/anOcWf1hXG

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 28, 2026

The Trump administration’s disastrous handling of the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis has further dimmed the GOP’s already bleak election prospects.

To be clear, Tillis still supports Trump’s authoritarian immigration policies. But with no election ahead of him—after bowing out due to Trump’s unpopular “One Big, Beautiful Bill”—he now has a little more room to scapegoat Trump officials who were once considered untouchable.