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The proposed fund immediately triggered outrage among establishment Republicans and Democrats alike. Lawmakers are now moving to block the program before money is distributed, with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Rep. Tom Suozzi reportedly leading bipartisan efforts to kill the initiative.
But it was Tillis who delivered some of the harshest attacks yet against Trump and January 6 defendants.
During an interview Wednesday with Spectrum News reporter Reuben Jones, Tillis lashed out at the idea of taxpayers compensating anyone connected to January 6, especially those accused of attacking officers.
“I’m not going to be an attorney and judge its legality, but I think it’s stupid on stilts because it will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we’re going to pay them for that? That’s absurd. The American people are going to reject this out of hand,” Tillis said.
The senator did acknowledge that some defendants who simply entered the Capitol without violence may have deserved clemency. But he drew a hard line when discussing those involved in confrontations with law enforcement.
“No reasonable person. Look, I’ve stipulated that the President pardoned a lot of people on january 6 that he probably should have. The dummies that went into the Capitol after it was breached, they weren’t, they weren’t in any altercations with law enforcement, but that front line had a lot of thugs that should still be in prison and be in prison as long as the law would allow, and they too are eligible for this payout,” Tillis continued.
“Your dollars, my dollar, that is the definition, as Thomas Jefferson, I think, once said, of tyranny. When you take money from me to give to a purpose that I vehemently disagree with, that’s tyranny, and that’s what that account is.”
The comments instantly infuriated many grassroots conservatives who have spent years arguing that January 6 prosecutions became a political weapon used to silence Trump supporters while left-wing rioters escaped meaningful punishment during the violent 2020 unrest.
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Critics also accused Tillis of hypocrisy, pointing to previous remarks where he criticized ICE and Border Patrol agents following confrontations with left-wing extremists. Conservatives noted that Tillis appeared far more sympathetic toward activists targeting immigration authorities than toward Trump supporters prosecuted by Biden’s Justice Department.
Tillis doubled down again Thursday while speaking to reporters, appearing visibly irritated as questions continued about the compensation fund.
He dismissed the initiative as a “payout pot for punks” and again branded it “stupid on stilts.”
“Under what circumstances would it ever make sense to provide restitution for people who either pled guilty or were found guilty in a court of law?” Tillis asked reporters.
The battle over the anti-weaponization fund is rapidly becoming another major flashpoint inside the Republican Party as Trump pushes to reshape the GOP around his America First agenda while establishment Republicans continue resisting key parts of his political movement.
The fight also comes as Senate Republicans headed into a ten-day recess, delaying major reconciliation negotiations tied to funding for ICE, Border Patrol, and the Secret Service. According to reports, tensions inside the GOP have intensified not only over the compensation fund but also over Trump’s endorsement of Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race against longtime establishment favorite John Cornyn.
For many conservatives, Tillis’ remarks only reinforced growing frustration with Republican lawmakers they view as more willing to attack Trump supporters than confront Democrats who spent years targeting political opponents through the federal government.
