Senator Thom Tillis decided to light a political fire this week, and the target was one of President Trump’s closest and most influential advisers, Stephen Miller. During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, the North Carolina Republican unloaded on Miller in unusually blunt terms, calling him an “embarrassment” and insisting President Trump should remove him from the administration.
Tillis did not exactly tiptoe around the issue. When host Jake Tapper asked whether Miller should be fired, Tillis responded immediately.
“Oh, of course I do.”
The senator tied his criticism to the recent shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security, where Secretary Kristi Noem was dismissed after a rough week of political battles on Capitol Hill. Tillis suggested that if accountability is the goal, Miller should be next in line.
According to Tillis, Miller’s influence inside the administration has grown too large. He claimed the White House deputy chief of staff is shaping policy decisions and messaging in ways that are causing problems for the president.
“It gives me pause that you have people like Stephen Miller calling the shots,” Tillis said during the interview. He then listed several examples of statements he believes created controversy, including comments about a suspected terrorist incident and discussions about Greenland.
Tillis argued that Miller often moves too quickly, speaking before thinking through the consequences. In his words, Miller is someone who focuses more on form than substance and exercises an “outsized influence” over Cabinet operations.
“He’s a big problem in this administration, he has been from the beginning,” Tillis added.
Those remarks might play well in certain Washington circles, but they are likely to land very differently with Republican voters. Within the conservative base, Miller is widely seen as one of the architects of President Trump’s most aggressive immigration and border enforcement policies. For many supporters, that is not a problem, that is the point.
The immigration issue played a major role in President Trump’s political rise and remains one of the top priorities for voters who believe the southern border became dangerously out of control during previous administrations. Miller has been central to crafting the policies aimed at reversing that trend, including stronger deportation enforcement and expanded border security measures.
Tillis has been a frequent critic of the administration’s tougher immigration stance, so his latest comments did not come entirely out of nowhere. Still, the timing raised eyebrows. The senator recently announced he will not run for reelection, which means he will not have to face voters again.
That detail has not gone unnoticed in Republican circles. Some see the attack as a familiar Washington pattern, politicians becoming far more outspoken once they are no longer accountable to the ballot box.
Meanwhile the White House does not appear particularly concerned. Several prominent Republican senators have publicly defended Miller in recent weeks. Senator Lindsey Graham made it clear that Miller’s position in President Trump’s inner circle is secure.
“People can disagree with Stephen on rhetoric, and they can disagree with him on policy,” Graham said. “But the question is, ‘Is Stephen Miller in jeopardy in Trump World?’ Absolutely not.”
In other words, one departing senator may be shouting, but inside the administration the message seems clear. Stephen Miller is not going anywhere.
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