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North Carolina senator Thom Tillis,<\/strong> who will not stand for reelection next year, unloaded his thoughts on Pete Hegseth<\/strong> during an interview with CNN this week, saying the Fox News host turned defense secretary has no idea what he\u2019s doing, that his actions have been \u201camateurish,\u201d and that he clearly doesn\u2019t understand how to run a massive organization like the one he\u2019s currently in charge of. Tillis also<\/em> said he doesn\u2019t regret voting to confirm Hegseth, because taking responsibility for one\u2019s actions would apparently be a bridge too far.<\/p>\n Speaking to Jake Tapper,<\/strong> the GOP lawmaker declared<\/a> of Hegseth that \u201cwith the passing of time, I think it\u2019s clear he\u2019s out of his depth as a manager of a large, complex organization.\u201d Commenting on Hegseth\u2019s decision not to let the White House know that he had paused weapons shipments to Ukraine, Tillis said, \u201cThat\u2019s just amateurish. That\u2019s from somebody who doesn\u2019t understand large organization dynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> notes, prior to Hegseth\u2019s confirmation, Tillis had \u201cworked behind the scenes to corroborate allegations that Mr. Hegseth had abused women, and appealed to the top Senate Republican to pull the nomination, which would have allowed Mr. Tillis to avoid having to publicly cross Mr. Trump,\u201d who had been talking about finding a candidate to challenge the lawmaker in next year\u2019s primary. So Tillis did what many a Republican before him has done and capitulated to Donald Trump,<\/strong> allowing Hegseth to be confirmed. Asked if he regretted doing so, Tillis told Tapper he did not, \u201cbut now I have the information of him being a manager, and I don\u2019t think that his probationary period\u2019s been very positive.\u201d (Apparently being a bad manager is worse than being accused* of sexual assault<\/a> and on-the-job intoxication<\/a>.)<\/p>\n After announcing last week that he would not seek reelection, Tillis took to the floor of the Senate to blast Trump\u2019s spending bill, asking, \u201cWhat 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 is not there anymore?\u201d Speaking to Tapper, Tillis called the legislation, signed into law on the Fourth of July, \u201cpolitically just devastating.\u201d Yet he also said he doesn\u2019t \u201chave a problem with Trump,\u201d claiming, \u201cI\u2019ve got a problem with some of the people I consider to be amateurs advising him. And I want to make it very clear to them: When you act like the president when he\u2019s out of the room, you don\u2019t impress me.\u201d A true profile in courage.<\/p>\n *Hegseth has denied accusations of sexual misconduct and was not charged following an investigation; he later paid the accuser, who was required to sign a nondisclosure agreement. In response to<\/em>\u00a0The New Yorker\u2019s reporting on the whistleblower complaint re: intoxication, Hegseth\u2019s lawyer sent the magazine a statement that read: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to comment on outlandish claims laundered through<\/em>\u00a0The New Yorker\u00a0by a petty and jealous disgruntled former associate of Mr. Hegseth\u2019s. Get back to us when you try your first attempt at actual journalism.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n