Republican Reveals Why He Was Blowing Kisses on the Senate Floor
Thom Tillis insists his gesture towards the camera on Capitol Hill was not politically motivated.

Pool/Getty Images
Sen. Thom Tillis has revealed why he blew kisses towards a camera on the Senate floor after he refused to back President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, caused confusion online when he was spotted waving and blowing kisses towards a C-SPAN camera. Trump raged at Tillis after he opposed the bill, but the 64-year-old insists his gesture towards the camera wasn’t a defiant political act, just a cute message to his family. After an online commentator asked on X “who asked” Tillis to do it, he replied: “My grandbabies, after they asked ‘What if Papa misses all the days’ of our family vacation.” Some commentators regarded the gesture as Tillis waving goodbye to politics, especially since the senator—who has served in Congress for a decade—announced he would not seek re-election. This came after he was flamed by Trump for opposing the bill. Tillis said independent thinkers in Washington, D.C., had become “an endangered species,” with the president labeling him “a talker and complainer” in response.
who told Thom Tillis to blow a kiss to the C-SPAN camera pic.twitter.com/6pkOjjphA1
— Jessy Han (@hjessy_) July 1, 2025
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