Donald Trump stirred one of the biggest controversies of his political career when he chose to pardon the January 6 rioters. Nearly five years after the attack, his efforts to absolve those charged with storming Capitol Hill continue to fuel intense debate.
While the Democrats have not refrained from upholding the Selection Committee’s Report time and again, it seems the pardoning has caused some undesirable ripple effects within the GOP itself.
On Tuesday, eminent GOP Senator Thom Tillis openly criticized the pardons Trump granted the defaulters on the very first day of his return to the Oval Office.
At the time, the President dismissed charges against hundreds and thousands of rioters, some of whom had even attacked the police and were convicted of felony crimes.
In fact, the U.S. President has been accused of attempting to rewrite history by providing a more GOP-aligned narrative to the incident. Critics argue that he has portrayed rioters as heroes or victims, despite the violent nature of the confrontation, which resulted in multiple deaths.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Tillis voiced his opinion, underscoring his opposition to Trump’s decision of pardoning those guilty of destroying Capitol Hill and attacking law enforcement officials.
He asked, “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?”
Tillis explained his perspective and revealed that many of the rioters who entered the building had no awareness of “what was happening.”
Instead, he believes, those who sent them with plans of harming officers in the first place are the real people who must go to prison, for as long as the federal law would allow.
Sen. Thom Tillis denounces Trump’s pardons of J6 insurrectionists: “We let bad people go, and we sent the message that if you come to this Capitol and you have the right president in office, he’s gonna get you get past things that not anyone of us would get away with if we did it… pic.twitter.com/KbCSwgTwkY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2026
The GOP Senator added, “It’s a d— shame they’re out because nearly three dozen of them have actually been arrested for another crime since they were pardoned. We have to speak truth to power.”
Well, a recent report by CREW has already detailed a list of these pardoners who had, in fact, been embroiled with more serious crimes since their pardoning by Trump. The findings have intensified public criticism and strengthened arguments that these individuals were unfit for clemency.
Continuing his statement, Thom Tillis clarified that he would still support Donald Trump and the GOP. But it cannot be taken away that the January 6 riots happened since they themselves acted on bad advice.
In his words, “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.”
Tillis has long been vocal about his criticism of Trump’s handling of the Jan 6 insurrection. It was in the summer itself when Thom announced that he would no longer support or back any future nominees of the president, who had signaled support for the attack on Capitol Hill.
It must also be noted that several other GOP members have expressed their concerns over the January 6 pardons. In fact, it has led to speculation about an imminent crack within the walls of the GOP, one that could have lasting consequences for the party’s unity and direction.
