Anti-Gun GOP Senator Tendered His Resignation

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of the few Republicans in Congress who consistently crossed party lines and backed gun control measures, has announced he will not seek reelection in 2026. The move came shortly after he voted against advancing President Trump’s massive tax-and-spending legislation, triggering a swift and brutal backlash from Trump and his allies. As Time Magazine’s Chad de Guzman reports, Tillis cited “partisan gridlock” and a desire to spend more time with his family as reasons for stepping away, but the timing of the announcement suggests political pressure may have played an even bigger role.

Trump’s reaction was immediate. Posting to Truth Social, he celebrated Tillis’s decision, writing “Great News!” and confirming he’d already begun scouting for a more loyal MAGA-aligned candidate to take the seat in 2026.

A Target of Trump’s Fury

According to de Guzman, Tillis’s final straw may have been his vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a sprawling tax-and-spending package that Trump has pushed as central to his second-term agenda. Tillis argued the bill would gut Medicaid funding for his home state and called it irresponsible. “It would result in tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina, including our hospitals and rural communities,” he said.

Trump didn’t take that well. He blasted Tillis online, calling him a “talker and complainer, NOT A DOER!” and vowed to back a primary challenger if the Senator dared to run again. In response, Tillis stepped aside. As de Guzman wrote, this was not an isolated conflict – it was the culmination of a rocky relationship stretching back to Trump’s first term.

Gun Control Vote Was the Beginning of the End

One of the biggest flashpoints between Tillis and Trump’s base came in 2022 when Tillis co-authored the Senate’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This was President Biden’s first and only significant gun control bill to pass Congress, and Tillis played a major role in making that happen. As Langley Outdoors Academy host Braden Langley pointed out in a fiery video, this was “the moment he pissed off the 2A community – and you don’t recover from that.”

Langley argued that by helping pass a law that was later exploited by the ATF to tighten restrictions on lawful gun owners, Tillis marked himself as a “gun-controlling RINO” (Republican In Name Only). According to Langley, that betrayal is what triggered Tillis’s steady political decline – and why the Second Amendment crowd never forgave him.

Trump’s Loyalty Test Claims Another Casualty

Tillis joins a growing list of Republicans who either lost their seats or chose to leave politics after breaking with Trump. From Liz Cheney to Mitt Romney, the pattern is clear: defy Trump, and your days in GOP leadership are numbered. As Braden Langley said bluntly, “Trump held his head under political water until the bubbles stopped.”

Tillis’s announcement came just one day after he stood with Sen. Rand Paul to vote against advancing the OBBB. Trump immediately began rallying support to replace him. Tillis responded with one last swipe at the former president: “Let’s avoid minisoldr,” he said, referencing the lewd online handle of Mark Robinson, a Trump-endorsed figure in North Carolina mired in online scandal.

A Political Career Built on Moderation

As Time reporter Chad de Guzman recounted, Tillis’s career has always leaned toward the middle. After starting in local government in Cornelius, North Carolina, Tillis rose through the ranks with a reputation for pro-business policies and bipartisan cooperation. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 and narrowly won reelection in 2020 after his opponent was caught in a scandal.

While he championed conservative causes like tax cuts and supported every GOP Supreme Court nominee, Tillis also backed reforms on immigration and gun control. He even co-sponsored a bill with a Democrat to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller during the Trump-Russia investigation – earning him applause from centrists and fury from the MAGA wing of the party.

Bipartisanship Is Now a Liability

In his retirement announcement, Tillis said Washington had changed. “Leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species,” he said. He expressed frustration that crossing party lines was applauded when Democrats did it, but scorned when Republicans like him did the same.

Braden Langley didn’t buy that argument. In his view, Tillis wasn’t standing for “independent thought” – he was turning his back on conservative values. “You piss off the gun world, you alienate one of the most passionate groups around,” Langley said. “The 2A community is stronger than they think.”

Democrats See an Opening

With Tillis stepping down, Democrats are eager to flip the seat. According to Time, former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is considered a top contender, though he hasn’t officially announced. Senate Majority PAC, the Democrats’ main campaign arm, stated that they’re “poised to win in North Carolina whether Tillis is on the ballot or not.”

Tillis’s departure reshuffles the deck, opening up a highly competitive battleground state for both parties in 2026. Trump is expected to throw his weight behind a hardline MAGA candidate – possibly even a member of his own family. Lara Trump is reportedly considering a run, according to Time.

Tillis Slams OBBB in Parting Shot

Even after announcing his retirement, Tillis didn’t let up. In a fiery floor speech, he called out Trump’s OBBB plan for breaking promises to Americans. “What do I tell 663,000 people in two years, or three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore?” he asked.

He even compared Trump’s claims to keep Medicaid intact to Obama’s infamous broken promise: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” That’s a stinging comparison that will likely sting even more coming from within the GOP.

Braden Langley: “Rhino Reset Is Underway”

Langley, in his response, said Tillis’s fall was part of a broader trend. “We’re breaking the rhinos down – Mitch McConnell’s out, Tom Tillis is out, John Cornyn’s about to be out.” He mocked CNN’s coverage for lamenting the loss of “a turncoat Republican,” and said the media should stop pretending that Tillis represented mainstream conservatism.

Langley also reminded viewers that Tillis barely won his last election – and predicted that even if he had run again, he’d have lost. “All it took was one little dink from Trump, and he’s gone,” Langley said.

You Don’t Survive a Split With Gun Owners

Let’s be real: You can buck Trump and survive – for a while. But if you turn your back on gun rights in a red state, your political clock starts ticking. Tillis didn’t just annoy conservatives – he infuriated the gun community when he helped write the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That’s a scar that doesn’t fade, especially when ATF used it to go after pistol braces and expand red flag laws.

When voters don’t trust you to defend the Second Amendment, you’re toast. That’s why Braden Langley’s analysis hit home – gun owners don’t forget, and they vote.

A Final Chapter or a New One?

Thom Tillis may be stepping down, but his influence isn’t completely gone. He still has a year and a half left in office, and he’s vowed to use that time to act without the distraction of campaigning. “I look forward to having the pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit,” he said.

That might sound noble, but whether Tillis will remain effective or simply be a lame duck remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the political winds in today’s GOP are unforgiving to moderates. And in a party shaped by Trump and fiercely defended by activists like Braden Langley, standing in the middle of the road just means you’re about to get hit from both directions.