How A Republican Senator Was Persuaded From a "Hard No" to a "Yes" On Trump’s Violent, Drunk Nominee for Defense Secretary

Trump threatened to run a primary opponent against Thom Tillis of North Carolina

Author

Matt Davis
February 16, 2025

Morning. Today’s story is a tale as old as time. Somebody showing a bit of a backbone on what you could argue is an important issue, then reversing course. I hate to tell you this but it wasn’t a surprising story to me in any way, whatsoever. It was just a story about a pathetic person putting his interests above his stated moral concerns and perhaps worse, yet, doing so despite having stated those concerns fairly clearly beforehand. I’m not saying I’m better than he is, either. I think we’re all capable of this kind of uselessness. Catch me on a bad day, and so on. But in this guy’s case, sadly, we’re now stuck with a dangerous, violent, and unstable drunk running the Pentagon. What’s the worst that could happen apart from, well…nuclear war?

I read this morning’s story, so that you don’t have to, at church before the service. The gospel reading from Luke 6:17-26 focused on the value of doing the unpopular thing. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclue you, revile you, and defame you,” it said. Of course, if you’re a Senator from North Carolina you might also fancy a seat on Airforce One.

The story, by six reporters, is available to read here. It focuses on Senator Thom Tillis, who stirred up an awful lot of concern about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth before voting for him to be confirmed. Here he is, the principled defender of justice:

It’s always great to wear polyester athleisure apparel under a suit if you’re trying to look lame and ineffective…

Reading the piece at church brought up some Judas Escariot themes. Tillis, for example, told Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins “he was locked down as a ‘no’” before, you know, voting yes. How many of us can remember being assured like this by somebody like this before they stabbed you in the back? Yes, it makes you angry to read about it. But at the end of the day, this guy knows who he is. And now we do, too.

“When somebody shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” said Maya Angelou, in one of my favorite quotes.

Ultimately it was Trump threatening to finance a primary opponent against Tillis in the next round of elections that softened his spine. God forbid you’d lose some power for doing the right thing. He did not make friends for it:

“On the Senate floor, Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski, seated at their side-by-side desks, could be seen staring at him coldly, Ms. Collins with her arms crossed, as Mr. Tillis faced them, gesticulating animatedly as he appeared to explain his turnabout.”

I would have liked a little more in the story about Senators Collins and Murkowski, if I’m honest, being willing to take a principled stand. But no good deed goes unpunished, as we all know.

Tillis, meanwhile, is a 64-year-old “former management consulting executive,” apparently, which hardly makes you trust him more deeply. He “has sought to carve out a lane for himself as a principled and independent Republican in an increasingly tribal party,” but apparently has decided he’ll be reversing course on that approach, from here on.

Two weeks later, Tillis was a guest aboard Airforce One as it made its way to South Florida. The piece is particularly disturbing for the details it gives about the allegations against Pete Hegseth by his ex-sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth:

“Danielle Hegseth said her former brother-in-law frequently drank to excess, including while in military uniform, and was so threatening and abusive toward his second wife, Samantha, that she once hid from him in her closet ‘because she feared for her personal safety.’ She said that Samantha Hegseth was so afraid of Mr. Hegseth’s ‘erratic and aggressive’ behavior that she made a secret plan involving a code word, shared with Danielle Hegseth and another person, to use if she needed to get away from him. The code word was deployed once, Danielle alleged, in 2015 or 2016.'“

I’ve behaved badly while drunk over the course of my life. I will say that when you have a problem with alcohol, it helps to stop drinking alcohol. And if you’ve got other problems, then a problem with alcohol can make those worse:

“Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, regularly abused alcohol to the point that he passed out at family gatherings, and once needed to be dragged out of a strip club while in uniform, according to an ex-relative’s account of his behavior that was given to U.S. lawmakers and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.”

— “Hesgeth regularly passed out from alcohol abuse, witness says", The Wall Street Journal, Jan 21.

“Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, drank in ways that concerned his colleagues at Fox News, according to 10 current and former Fox employees who spoke with NBC News.”

— “Pete Hesgeth’s drinking worried colleagues at Fox News”, NBC, Dec 3 2024

I’m not saying anyone is past resolving their issues, either. I’d just prefer it if they did so before being given a job running the most powerful military system in the known universe.

You’re welcome.

Matt Davis lives in Manhattan with his wife and child.