Prominent figures in the “Make America Great Again” movement formed an online pressure posse to criticize Sen. Thom Tillis after the North Carolina Republican announced he would oppose President Donald Trump’s initial pick to be the top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia.
But while the president on Thursday bowed to the opposition and scuttled the nomination of Ed Martin, the influence campaign against Tillis was straight out of a MAGA playbook that, in many ways, was written by its leader, Trump himself.
MAGA influencers like Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk, among others, posted highly critical content on social media about the North Carolina Republican’s refusal to support Martin’s nomination — which Trump said Thursday he would withdraw — over the conservative lawyer and activist’s support for nearly 400 Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants who were charged with assaulting law enforcement officers that day. All were among the nearly 1,600 rioters pardoned by Trump upon his return to office.
