Republican Senator Slams Pete Hegseth, Compares Him to Axed Kristi Noem 

Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina issued a scathing rebuke of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday, May 24, during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper.

Tillis compared the embattled Defense Secretary to fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, heavily criticizing Hegseth's management of the Pentagon, particularly concerning the failing war in Iran.

In response to Hegseth’s baseless claims that the United States “obliterated” Iran as President Donald Trump’s claims of a deal with the Middle Eastern nation ignominiously crumbled over the weekend, the senator said, “When you see these mistakes made by Hegseth. … With all of these mistakes in total, it’s beginning to make Kristi Noem look like a five-star recruit.”

Tillis had previously labeled Noem’s leadership a "disaster" due to her response to a fatal federal immigration shooting in Minneapolis and delayed disaster relief funds for North Carolina.

“Very pointed criticism of Pete Hegseth,” noted Jonathan Lemire of Tillis' trashing on Morning Joe, Monday, May 25.

"Iran is in a position of strength," said MS NOW military analyst and retired Army general Mark Hertling, directly contradicting Hegseth's statements.

A petulant POTUS taunted Tillis on Truth Social, calling him a "Nitpicker," a "RINO," and a "QUITTER!"

Trump’s response was fueled by Tillis’ criticism of Hegseth and his $1.8 billion Department of Justice “anti-weaponization” slush fund that Tillis blasted as “stupid on stilts.”

Trump stated that Tillis could now spend his remaining months in office "with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party," before adding that the MAGA movement will ultimately get "bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!"

The North Carolina Republican’s criticism of Hegseth comes following his widely scorned commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday, May 23, which sparked widespread criticism for injecting partisan culture-war rhetoric into a traditionally nonpartisan military event.

Traditionally, graduation addresses at service academies avoid overt political targeting.

Critics noted that Hegseth broke this norm by dedicating major portions of his address to criticizing previous Democratic administrations and attacking what he labeled "foolish and feckless leaders."