In a hostage statement packaged as a news article “Exclusive – Tillis Backs Bondi for AG, Patel for FBI; Will Vote for Hegseth and All Trump Nominees on Floor if Reported Favorably Out of Committee,” the right wing propaganda site’s extremely creepy “senior political reporter” Matthew Boyle has forced the North Carolina senator’s office on record capitulating to support whichever of the convicted felon President-Elect’s nominees that actually make it to the confirmation process.

“Senator Tillis has been focused on reviewing the nominees in his committees of jurisdiction and making sure they get fair hearings, and he is working on making sure Pam Bondi and Kash Patel get through the Senate Judiciary Committee and get confirmed on the floor,” Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin – and not Tillis himself – told Boyle on Wednesday. “Senator Tillis trusts his Republican colleagues to ensure that all of President Trump’s nominees get a fair confirmation process, and any nominee that gets a favorable vote out of committee will get the Senator’s vote on the floor.”

With so few other realistic opportunities on the map, Tillis’s seat is basically a must-flip for Democrats in 2026, even though it’s been however goddamned long since a Dem won a Senate seat in North Carolina, which is why there’s been some pre-game hype about how he votes in the upcoming gauntlet, so it’s obvious why Breitbart is acting as Trump’s enforcer to publicly lock him in now on the slate of freaks. Of course trying to make FBI Director Kash Patel a millstone around his neck is probably going to be less of a factor than the overall environment for Republican incumbents after two years of MAGA batshittery/tarifflation and whether outgoing Gov Roy Cooper runs.

Cooper had considered jumping in the 2022 race for the seat currently held by asshole Senator Ted Budd but didn’t want to leave the state in the hands of “Nude Africa” guy Mark Robinson. Can’t exactly blame Cooper for that decision. The other must-flip is the Maine seat occupied by Susan Collins, easy if she retires, less easy if she stays since she survived 2020. Kentucky might actually be realistic if Mitch McConnell retires (likely) and Gov Andy Beshear runs. The special election to replace JD Vance won’t be until November 2026 and Sherrod Brown has already signaled interest in a comeback attempt. It’s a bad map (it’s always a bad map for Dems) but there’s still opportunities.