GOP Senator Warns There Is a ‘Risk’ Trump Will Lash Out If Republicans Get Smoked in Midterms

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned 60 Minutes there is a “risk” President Donald Trump will react recklessly if the Republicans get drubbed in the midterm elections — a worry he said stems from how the president behaved before and after the January 6 Capitol Riot.

The lame duck senator dished to new correspondent Ross Douthat about the state of the Republican Party, the president, and his beef with administration officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his Sunday night interview. Douthat pointed out it was a typical “tightrope” performance from Tillis, who prefers to bash Trump’s advisers than go after the president directly.

But one topic he will criticize the president for is January 6.

“Look, this was the first time in the history of this country that we had not had a completely peaceful transfer of power on that day. And that was despicable,” Tillis said. “The people that led the charge, the people that assaulted police officers, I wish they were still in prison and serving a very long sentence.”

Douthat noted it didn’t disgust him enough to convict Trump in the impeachment trial that followed, though. But the senator said it makes him worried about how the president will respond, if the GOP gets smoked in November.

“Do you have any concerns about how this same president, who you’ve been condemning for January 6 will react if Republicans have a bad night in the midterms?” Douthat asked.

“I think there’s a risk, I really do,” Tillis answered. “It would be another political unforced error if we do that.”

His interview comes a year after Tillis announced he would not be seeking reelection in 2026. Tillis made his announcement right around when he broke with Trump on the One Big Beautiful Bill, and he’s gotten into it with Trump and members of his administration a handful of times since then.

Notably, he has repeatedly called for Trump to fire Hegseth, and he criticized the president’s “anti-weaponization fund” earlier this year. Trump responded by saying he was a “weak and ineffective” lawmaker who was nothing but a “QUITTER.” 

On Sunday, Tillis said he is concerned the Executive Branch does not view the Legislative Branch as a “peer” anymore. He told Douthat, “We will have a sort of dictator king if we’re not careful.”

Tillis also saved some venom for Hegseth and ex-DHS boss Kristi Noem, saying they are “probably the poster children for men and women who should never have the authority the’ve been granted.”

Douthat said there was more of that in the new book the 66-year-old Tillis has coming out on Tuesday.

At another point in the interview, when Douthat said the success of Trump’s second term ultimately falls on the president, not his advisers, Tillis said ex-President Harry Truman was fond of saying “The buck stops here.”

“It’s a good line,” Douthat said.

“I get that. But Truman had great advisers,” Tillis told him.

Watch above via CBS.

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