North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis slammed Pete Hegseth by comparing him to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Tillis appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday and called out Hegseth, suggesting Kristi Noem appeared more competent in front of him. 

The host asked Tillis, “Do you think the president has been advised well by Secretary Hegseth on this war?” he started his answer with, “No. I actually—if you take a look at the assessment that Hegseth gave, at the end of the day, regardless of who collected the information, Hegseth owns it by being secretary of defense.”

Furthermore, he added, “When you tell the president that you have obliterated Iran, and you’re in a position to pretty much dictate terms, and now you see what we have. When you see Hegseth pull back on operations in Poland—when… Russia is r—, killing, torturing countless people in Ukraine—when you see these mistakes made by Hegseth… with all these mistakes in total, it’s beginning to make Kristi Noem look like a five-star recruit.”

The senator’s remarks come after the ongoing agreements between the U.S. and Iran. Hegseth earlier claimed the U.S. had obliterated Iranian defenses and was in the position to dictate terms. After multiple failed agreement talks, the U.S. has now claimed that a deal is “largerly negotiated.”

Tillis has been a longtime Trump administration critic. He announced his retirement last year; however, he has been slamming the administration over the Iran war and even the $1.8 billion fund set up for those who were impacted by the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. He added that the fund could be helpful, but came off at a horrible time at the expense of taxpayers’ money.

The Secretary of War has been under fire over issues such as alleged war crimes, mass firings of personnel at the Pentagon, and using military helicopters to fly with MAGA country singer Kid Rock. Moreover, Hegseth has also been accused of mishandling sensitive military information. He was also slammed over the U.S. service member casualties in Iran, while he maintained that the operation in the Middle East is to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons.

Hegseth was also in the middle of controversies, such as the mistreatment of women and having drinking problems. Staff members were also confused when he brought his wife, who is not even an appointed member of the administration, to work meetings. Many claimed recent firings in the Pentagon left Hegseth without any support.

Kristi Noem was fired from her position in March after a controversial congressional hearing. She was accused of misappropriating taxpayers’ money to run ad campaigns. Noem was also under fire over affair rumors with Corey Lewandowski.