Sen. Thom Tillis Calls Donald Trump a 'Snowflake,' But Strategist Says His Candor Came Too Late

Sen. Thom Tillis is leaving Washington with a few final insults for President Donald Trump, and no apparent interest in softening them.

The retiring North Carolina Republican describes Trump as a “snowflake” with thin skin in his new memoir, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. But critics say Tillis’ candor would have carried more weight before he surrendered his political leverage.

Tillis introduces his criticism in the memoir’s prologue, writing that Trump has “even thinner skin” than he once believed before adding, “Seriously, what a snowflake.”

“He does have thin skin,” Tillis said during an October 6 appearance on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

The two-term senator argued that public figures must learn to absorb criticism and continue leading rather than becoming distracted by every attack.

His memoir also targets prominent Trump appointees. Tillis identifies Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a “MAGAT,” his term for members of the MAGA movement who are also Trump sycophants. He calls confirming Hegseth his greatest career regret and says he should have blocked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from becoming health secretary.

“Tillis has given voice to what a huge swath of lawmakers, political consultants, political commentators, and rank and file voters — principally Republicans, but some Democrats, too — have thought about Trump for years now, but with most, other than the rank and file, being too afraid to say it because they fear Trump and his supporters’ retribution,” said Republican strategist Liz Mair, president of Mair Strategies.

Trump repeatedly attacked Tillis as insufficiently loyal and later called him a “loser” and “quitter.” Tillis announced that he would not seek another term after opposing Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

“What’s unfortunate is that Tillis is only giving voice to this as he’s on his way out the door, and he didn’t do so when he was still in a position to effect some change within the GOP,” Mair said.

She called that delay part of a broader “trend” among Republicans since Trump became the party’s dominant figure in 2015.

“It’s understandable, but diminishes the extent to which his truth-telling makes him a ‘profile in courage,’” she added.

“Tillis’ comments aren’t going to have any major effect on Trump’s public image,” she added. They’re more emblematic of the fact that Trump’s power is waning by the day as he faces a lame duck presidency and, frankly, his own mortality.”

Mair said Tillis has “​​largely made himself a political non-factor” unless he decides to re-enter politics in the future, though she “sort of” suspects his career is headed toward other roles.

Either way, she said, “the comments should be good for book sales.”