North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis has been a vocal Republican critic of the Trump administration’s handling of last weekend’s deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
But other North Carolina Republicans have been far more muted in their comments on what happened. All Things Considered host Nick De La Canal spoke with WFAE’s Steve Harrison about how the state’s Republicans are responding.
Nick de la Canal: Steve, let’s start with Sen. Tillis, who, of course, is not running for re-election. What has he said?
Steve Harrison: He and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski have been the biggest critics of the shooting of Pretti, an ICU Nurse, and the administration’s response. Tillis was asked by reporters Tuesday outside the Capitol if he had confidence in Kristi Noem. She’s the Secretary of Homeland Security, who oversees Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Tillis responded no and called her amateurish.
He also blasted Stephen Miller, who is a Homeland Security Advisor and has pushed the president to enact hard-line immigration policies.
Tillis: "Stephen Miller is in the same boat. This guy, after doing the stupid comments he made about Greenland, getting the president in a difficult circumstance, and is one of the people who came and said this guy was a terrorist before he had even talked with anyone on the ground and that’s clearly not the case. Stephen Miller never fails to live up to my expectations of incompetence."
Harrison: He then said Noem has “run the Trump administration into the ground on an issue (immigration) that the GOP should own. He didn’t directly criticize the President, though, but stuck to criticizing what Tillis said is bad advice Trump is getting.
De la Canal: And what did Trump say in response?
Harrison: Well, earlier today, he called them losers and that they are “terrible senators.”
De la Canal: OK, no surprise there, I guess. Steve, as we said, Tillis will be out of the Senate when his current term ends is now freer to say what he thinks. What about the state’s other Sen. Republican Ted Budd?
Harrison: Budd posted a 343-word statement on social media Tuesday.
He started by saying Pretti’s shooting was a “tragedy that should never have happened.”
Budd also said his shooting must be fully investigated and that initial rushes to judgment did not meet the standard that Americans should expect from their government officials.
De la Canal: Did Budd criticize anyone in the Trump administration by name, as Tillis did?
Harrison: No, he actually mostly criticized the left. He said Minnesota’s leaders failed their constituents by embracing sanctuary policies. He called the protestors a “network of well-funded, well-equipped, and well-organized agitators flooding Minneapolis to harass, provoke, and endanger law enforcement.”
Budd, who is a gun store owner, also wrote that Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, and the mere possession of a firearm does not represent a threat justifying lethal force.
De la Canal: So, very different responses from North Carolina’s Senators. We have 10 Republican House members. What are they saying?
Harrison: Chuck Edwards represents western North Carolina in the mountains. He is in a pretty safe district, but if there was a really big blue wave in November, Edwards could be in jeopardy.
He wrote that “the facts must be fully and fairly investigated. Law enforcement officers deserve due process, and the public deserves transparency and accountability.”
And he said he wants Congress to hear testimony from federal officials involved.
De la Canal: And what about closer to Charlotte? What are our GOP representatives saying?
Harrison: We have three Republican Congressmen who represent the Charlotte metro area: Pat Harrigan, Mark Harris and Tim Moore.
Harrigan has been quiet this week.
Harris has criticized Democratic leadership in Minnesota for what happened and has not called for any investigation.
And Moore had not put out a statement. But in a response to a question from the Raleigh News & Observer, he said he supports law enforcement and also supports House efforts to bring ICE and CBP leadership to testify.
De la Canal: So Moore is taking a similar position to Chuck Edwards.
Harrison: Exactly.
De la Canal: And Steve, one last question. Michael Whatley is the presumed Republican candidate for what will be an open U.S. Senate seat in November, against Democrat Roy Cooper. Has Whatley made any comments?
Harrison: I looked through his social media, and haven’t found any posts about Minneapolis. Or Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland before that. I also reached out to his campaign, and haven’t heard back.
