MAGA Michele Morrow vs. Timid Thom Tillis?

Transcript:I’m Thomas Mills for PoliticsNC. Today is April 1, 2025 and the universe is smiling down us today.According to reporter Bryan Anderson, Michele Morrow is considering a primary against Senator Thom Tillis. This is not an April Fool’s joke.Morrow is a bat-s**t crazy woman who ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction last year. She took out the incumbent Superintendent in the Republican primary and came within three percent of winning the general election.Morrow is deep into MAGA conspiracy theories. She called for the execution of a host of Democrats including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Roy Cooper.She was also in Washington during the January 6 insurrection and recorded a video claiming that Trump had the authority to use the military to arrest all of his political enemies including incoming president Joe Biden.She believed that Chinese troops were amassed on the Canadian border ready to invade the US and take over the country as soon as Joe Biden was sworn in. Maybe that’s why Trump wants to make Canada the 51st state.Morrow’s got an opposition research book full of crazy statements. She called public schools socialist indoctrination centers and said cameras in school bathrooms would help prevent school shootings.She’s full of so many great ideas, I can’t wait to rehash them again.I’m not gonna lie. I’ve been pretty bummed since I heard that Mark Robinson decided not to run against Tillis. Nothing would be more fun than reliving the sordid details of Robinson’s life while Christian nationalists swoon over his crazy nonsense.But Michele Morrow is a pretty good consolation prize.Let’s be serious for a moment. The fact that Morrow is even considering running shows the challenge Tillis faces next year. Nobody likes him.He’s a phony and MAGA knows it. Tillis knows that most of the stuff he’s spouting off is wrong but he’ll say anything to keep his seat. He’s been pandering to the Trump base for six years. He voted for all of those incompetent Cabinet nominees hoping to show his loyalty, but they see right through him.MAGA doesn’t want to vote for Tillis. Morrow offers them an alternative. Even if she loses the primary, the Republican right flank will be sluggish about turning out to support a guy they don’t trust.I suspect the 2026 turnout in North Carolina will look more like 2018 than 2022. 2018 was the best midterm for Democrats since 2006. If there had been a Senate race in North Carolina that year, Democrats would have won it.That’s what Tillis faces–a dissatisfied base and a motivated opposition.For now, I’m going to take my joy in knowing that Michele Morrow still has a political future in the North Carolina Republican Party.I’m Thomas Mills, signing off for PoliticsNC. Get full access to PoliticsNC at www.politicsnc.com/subscribe