Sen. Thom Tillis Is Angry Harris Campaign Quoted Him Right

A Republican senator got his panties in a bunch on Monday after Kamala Harris’ campaign quoted him accurately in a social media post.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C) released a statement Sunday promising voters that, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated his state last week, he would “pursue long-term federal assistance for families and communities left devastated” by the flooding.

Tillis also vowed to clear bureaucracy that “needlessly delays the start of the long-term rebuilding process.”

In his remarks, Tillis also criticized people who were trying to use the natural disaster to score political points.

“The last thing that the victims of Helene need right now is political posturing, finger-pointing, or conspiracy theories that only hurt the response effort,” he said. “The immediate focus needs to be supporting search and rescue operations and ensuring the safety of everyone in harm’s way.”

Tillis’ remarks came in the wake of various hoaxes and misinformation being spread about the disaster response, His points struck a chord with Harris’ Democratic presidential campaign, which highlighted his comments on social media.

Casual readers might look at the post and think it’s an example of bipartisan support for Democrats and Republicans to work together to solve the big issues.

However, Tillis wasn’t happy about the shoutout, probably because one of the main people spreading lies and misinformation about disaster relief is none other than Harris’ Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.

So he tweeted on X to tell Harris that his comments weren’t referring to right-wing conspiracy theorists at all.

“I was talking about politicians like YOU using this disaster for political posturing,” Tillis insisted.

Many people on social media speculated that the reason Tillis went after the Harris campaign wasn’t to correct the record but to cover his heinie to prevent attacks from Trump and his supporters.

One person hurt Tillis’ claim by posting numerous quotes from Tillis’ fellow Republicans and North Carolinians praising the help they received from the Biden-Harris administration.