Sen. Tillis Unfiltered: Trump, Iran & What’s Next For the GOP

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since announcing his decision to retire last year, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has become a kind of thorn in MAGA’s side, holding up appointments and voicing criticisms about legislation favored by President Trump. But his resistance raises a perennial question about Republicans in the Trump era: Why do lawmakers only push back when they’re on the way out? Kara and Sen. Tillis talk about his concerns over the Trump administration’s handling of the war in Iran; why he thinks newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin will be an improvement over his predecessor, Kristi Noem; and why Tillis aims his criticisms at Trump’s advisers rather than Trump himself. They also talk about his worries about the upcoming midterms and where he thinks the party is headed after Trump leaves office. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're a very good public servant, I have to say.
0:02.4	Thank you.
0:02.9	Although I wouldn't vote for you either.
0:04.3	I would vote for you, to be fair.
0:05.7	I'm not running.
0:06.6	I'm just running my mouth.
0:07.6	It's on.
0:14.3	Hi, everyone, from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This is on with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:25.6	My guest today is North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis. He's one of the very few Republicans willing to criticize the Trump administration right now. That's mainly because he's not running for re-election this year, in part because of criticisms
0:38.8	from President Trump.
0:40.7	Tillis's voice skepticism about the administration's goals in Iran.
0:44.1	He's refused to confirm President Trump's pick to head the Federal Reserve until the Justice
0:48.3	Department drops an investigation into its current chair, Jerome Powell.
0:52.7	And earlier this month, he also got a lot of attention
0:55.1	for eviscerating, now former Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noem, during a Senate hearing.
1:01.3	We're an exceptional nation. And one of the reasons we're exceptional is we expect exceptional
1:06.5	leadership. And you've demonstrated anything but that in the time that I've seen you responding
1:12.6	to the emergency in North Carolina and across the southeast and acknowledging when mistakes are made.
1:19.5	But Tillis is careful not to criticize Trump himself. He says the problem is the people around
1:24.8	the president giving him bad advice, whom President Trump hired,
1:28.7	by the way, but that's another issue we'll talk about. And Tillis voted to confirm some of those
1:33.8	very people like Nome, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and FBI director Cash Patel.
	...

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