‘Nuttier Than Squirrel Sh*t’: Republican Senator Stands by Insults He Threw at Trump Officials

Sen. Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) seemingly interminable TV book tour continued on multiple programs on Tuesday, culminating in an appearance on CNN’s The Source, where he doubled down on some color insults.

Tillis opted not to run for reelection and will leave the Senate when his term expires in January. Politically, that has left him freer than his Republican to offer criticisms of President Donald Trump and other administration officials, some of which host Kaitlan Collins read back to the author.

Source host Kaitlan Collins read from Tillis’ book, snippets of which sounded like they came from a celebrity roast.

“You’re very unsparing, I should note, against a lot of people in the president’s cabinet,” Collins said. “You say Pete Hegseth is the biggest regret of your career. You admit that you should have stopped RFK Jr. from becoming health secretary. You say Tulsi Gabbard won’t be challenging anyone for president of her local Mensa chapter. You say Kristi Noem’s a dog murderer, and that Howard Lutnick quote, ‘is nuttier than squirrel sh*t.'”

“I stand by all that,” Tillis replied. “What else you got?”

“Is there anyone good that you think Trump has hired?” Collins inquired.

“Yeah, I mean, the majority of people in the cabinet I support,” the senator answered.

“That’s the majority of his cabinet in his first year!” the host exclaimed.

“No, it’s not,” Tillis noted.

Despite his criticisms, Tillis said Trump will help Republicans turn out the base of the party in the midterms.

“The president is a populist president,” the senator said. “He is gonna do a good job of bringing out that base that’s uniquely motivated by him. Traditional conservatives, traditional Republicans have to do their part to get the other folks out and say, ‘Guys, we’re dealing with populism just like the Democrats did with Biden and with Obama. And we’ve got to get through it. But you don’t abandon your party.'”

Watch above via CNN.

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