Senator Thom Tillis Says Donald Trump Has 'Thin Skin': 'Seriously, What a Snowflake'

Outgoing Republican Senator Thom Tillis has made no secret that he's critical of Donald Trump, but he took his antagonism to a new level in his book, where he called the president a thin-skinned "snowflake" in the prologue.

Tillis appeared on the October 6 edition of The Source With Kaitlan Collins to discuss his tome, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, and his break from the Trump administration.

Collins admitted she was surprised to see a politician come out swinging at the beginning of their book, noting that in the prologue, Tillis writes, "I've also found that the President of the United States has even thinner skin than I once thought he did. Seriously, what a snowflake."

"He does have thin skin!" Tillis immediately chimed in. "It's like, get over it, folks. I mean, we're public figures. We get criticized every single day. Welcome to the club."

"Don't get distracted by it," he continued. "That's what people want. They want you to flake out over a comment. Get past it. Move on."

He went on to complain that Trump still didn't understand that every comment he makes as president will get scrutinized, and his complaints over media coverage lead to distractions for the GOP.

As an example, Tillis pointed to Trump's infamous rally comment where he said, "Let [Iran] bomb Los Angeles. Let them get San Diego," causing Democratic commenters to claim Trump was inviting Iran to bomb Californian liberal strongholds while the White House claimed Trump meant the war in Iran prevented those cities from getting bombed.

"He doesn't realize that every word that he mentions, it has weight. You gotta be really careful. I believe that was taken out of context, and I hope he'll clear that up."

Tillis also argued that Trump engaged in petty games by posting Senator Tom Cotton's phone number for the Senator's opposition to eliminating Daylight Savings Time because it was irrelevant to Republican efforts to win crucial Senate races in battleground states.

"I immediately think about how that issue polls in battleground states we need to win," he said. "Everybody says, 'Oh, it's an 80 percent issue nationwide,' I don't care about nationwide! What I care about is the states we must win to keep a majority!"

"The president needs to spot every landing for the next 28 days," he continued. "We can't be spending time explaining an offhanded comment."

Tillis fell out of favor quickly in Trump's second term for his vocal opposition to Trump policies and nominees — though he still voted to confirm nominees he privately had reserves over, including Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In his book, he called voting to confirm Hegseth the "biggest regret" of his career, and he said of Kennedy, "I guess it’s easy to say now, but I’m the one who has to live with that vote and all the havoc Kennedy’s tenure has caused the country as a result."

Tillis has called for Hegseth to be removed from office. He is retiring at the end of his current term.