In a rare moment of candor, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) put his own party on blast during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, calling out fellow Republicans for fanning the flames in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Without mincing words, Tillis urged his GOP colleagues to take a hard look at their own behavior.
“Within 24 hours of Mr. Kirk’s shooting we had the guy that does the podcast for the War Room and another guy who’s denied the Sandy Hook shootings say ‘we’re at war,’” Tillis said. “How on earth are we deescalating the situation? And with the tensions as high as they were last week, with going out and saying ‘we’re at war’ — I’m not asking you to respond to this question I’m just saying that there are people out here on our side of the aisle that still need to look in the mirror.”
That statement — direct, damning, and deliberately pointed — landed like a slap in a room already charged with partisan tension.
Tillis’ comments came during a tense grilling of FBI Director Kash Patel, who has come under heavy fire from both sides of the aisle. The Republican senator didn’t let up, warning that some on the right are making Patel’s job — and the nation’s safety — harder with their incendiary rhetoric.
“That kind of rhetoric and that kind of mobilization makes your job more difficult and puts us in a position where we’re not being as productive as you want the FBI and state and local law enforcement to be,” Tillis said.
The comments struck a nerve in a hearing that was already loaded with controversy. Patel, who stepped into the role of FBI Director just last year, is facing sharp criticism for his handling of multiple high-profile issues — including the agency’s response to the Kirk assassination, the unresolved tangle of the Jeffrey Epstein case, and shocking accusations that FBI personnel from terrorism and child trafficking task forces have been pulled off to assist in immigration enforcement.
Patel sat under fire, stone-faced, while lawmakers from both parties took turns throwing punches. But what stood out wasn’t just the questions about procedure or accountability — it was the Republicans openly turning on their own.
While some in the GOP have defended Patel, others have openly questioned his fitness for the job. And the pressure’s not just coming from Capitol Hill. Conservative media figures and grassroots groups have taken turns roasting the FBI’s response to Kirk’s killing — and in some cases, cranking up the temperature with militant talk of “war” and “revenge.”
Amid the heat, Patel told the committee that he intends to urge Donald Trump to tone it down.
He vowed in front of the senators that he would urge the president to rein in his divisive rhetoric after recent incidents of political violence.
The hearing ended, but the message lingered: if Republicans want to talk about restoring law and order, they may need to start with their own language and actions.
Watch the clip below:
