'It's A Damn Shame': GOP Senator Blasts Trump's Mass Pardon Of Jan. 6 Rioters

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s blanket pardons to hundreds of rioters charged in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Tillis underscored his opposition to the president pardoning those who injured law enforcement officers and “destroyed” the Capitol building during the insurrection.

“If you had that happen to your office or your business, would you think, ‘Well, they were just a little hot-headed, let them go and not prosecute them?’ Or would you hold them accountable for threatening the citadel of democracy?” he asked.

Tillis claimed that many of those who entered the Capitol “didn’t understand what was happening,” while those who led the charge into the building and harmed officers “should go to prison for as long as the law allows.”

“It’s a damn shame they’re out because nearly three dozen of them have actually been arrested for another crime since they were pardoned,” Tillis said.

He also emphasized that “we have to speak truth to power.”

“I support President Trump. I campaigned for President Trump. I would support him again if he ran for reelection, which is not going to happen; however, we acted on bad advice,” Tillis said of the president’s blanket pardons, which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended last year. “We let bad people go, and we sent the message that if you come to the Capitol and you have the right president in office, he’s going to let you get past things that would not — that not anyone of us would get away with if we did it back in our own home state.”

Additionally, Tillis highlighted how a plaque intended to honor the officers who defended the Capitol that day was not on display, as required by law. Johnson has claimed that the plaque was “not implementable,” and that proposed alternatives also “do not comply.”

Tillis claimed that, by statute, the plaque should list the names of the officers who responded to the attack on the Capitol instead of just their law enforcement agencies. He plans to work with Johnson to implement the plaque’s installation.

Tillis, who is not seeking reelection later this year, has been a thorn in Trump’s side for his stance on the Jan. 6 attack. Over the summer, Tillis announced that he would not back any future nominees of the president who have signaled support for the insurrection.