Want ‘Build the wall!’ on a Santa hat? The Tillis campaign will sell you that.
Instead of exclaiming “Ho, Ho, Ho” this holiday season, how about touting “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” on your Santa hat?
Instead of being on Team Rudolph in the reindeer games, how about pledging your allegiance to Team Kavanaugh in the judicial fight?
Or, as Sen. Thom Tillis’ 2020 re-election campaign puts it, you can just show your support for American border security with a “Build the Wall!” Santa hat. (It’s unlikely, though, to stop a border-crossing, red-suited, North Pole resident with wrapped gifts in hand.)
The North Carolina senator’s campaign is selling four Santa hats with these slogans, in addition to one with the words “Support Our Troops.”
Each hat, described as “premium fleece Santa hat with fur cuff and pom” and made in the USA is $25 on the campaign website.
The hats do not have Tillis’ name on them.
Campaign slogans
The merchandise has a certain Trumpian flair to it. President Trump often sells merchandise to respond to the latest controversy or news item, starting with his trademark red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps when he was a candidate.
As for the messages, those, too, echo the president, who has endorsed Tillis in part, because Trump said, he was “strong on the border.”
Monday, Tillis said he is a “definite no” on articles of impeachment against Trump.
Trump often tweets “jobs, jobs, jobs,” either as a sole message or as part of a message. He’s done so nearly 40 times since winning the 2016 election, including twice this week.
Tillis supported now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee, through a vicious confirmation fight over allegations of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Trump made “Build the Wall” one of his main campaign promises in 2016, calling for a border wall on the U.S. southern border with Mexico. During the campaign, he said Mexico would pay for the wall.
Tillis and immigration
Tillis has never supported a border wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, instead calling for a wall where it makes sense. He also supports increased border personnel and technology to protect the border.
In 2018, Tillis co-sponsored a bill to provide a $25 billion trust fund for “the border wall system, which includes border infrastructure and technology.” The bill also included limits to family-based immigration, an end to the visa lottery and a 10-year path to citizenship with requirements for approximately 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were minors.
Trump supported the bill, but it got just 39 votes on the Senate floor on Feb. 15, 2018 — the fewest of four unsuccessful immigration bills voted on that day.
Despite initial opposition, Tillis supported Trump’s national emergency declaration that allowed him to take money from other parts of the government, including $3.6 billion from the defense budget, to spend on the wall. Of that, $80 million came from North Carolina military bases, though $32.9 million of that was targeted to a previously canceled elementary school at Fort Bragg.
Tillis raised more than $4.2 million for his re-election bid between January and the end of September, according to the latest campaign finance reports available. Ayden farmer Sandy Smith has said she will run against Tillis in the Republican primary, though she has yet to file with the state board of elections.
A Civitas NC poll published Tuesday showed Tillis leading Smith 63-11.
Five Democrats have filed to run against Tillis — former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller, Atul Goel of Raleigh, state Sen. Erica Smith and Steve Swenson of Bunnlevel.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
