MAGA rallies for Trump's D.C. attack dog
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Ed Martin, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, attends a community meeting on March 25. Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images
President Trump is at risk of losing his pick for a top attack dog in D.C. — and his base is furious about it.
The big picture: Ed Martin., Trump's nominee to be the top federal prosecutor in the District, may not have enough votes to be confirmed by the Senate.
- Martin has been a Swiss Army knife for Trump's agenda — threatening Wikipedia over biased "propaganda," pursuing DOGE critics, and promising to "Make D.C. Safe Again."
- But Martin's leniency toward U.S. Capitol rioters — he demoted prosecutors who oversaw cases — was too much to stomach for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
- "I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6," Tillis told reporters today — a potentially fatal blow to a nomination that was already on thin ice.
Why it matters: DOJ's top D.C. prosecutor is an important job, with the ability to make hay over local crime and investigate serious white-collar offenses. He recently questioned congressional Democrats who had criticized Elon Musk.
- It'd be a major rebuke for Republicans to sink the nomination of a Trump loyalist for such a big job.
Friction point: MAGA adherents have unloaded on Tillis, who's up for reelection next year.
- The fierce and swift backlash underscores the GOP base's readiness to punish Republicans who cross Trump or impede his nominees, particularly someone who is as much of a MAGA knife fighter as Martin.
What they're saying: "Tillis is handing this critical post to the Democrats," Charlie Kirk, a MAGA field marshal with a lengthy record of pressuring GOP lawmakers on Trump's agenda, posted on X.
- Andrew Kolvet, a guest host and executive producer of Kirk's podcast, later put Tillis' Senate office phone number on the screen during Tuesday's episode with the hopes of "absolutely melt[ing] his phone lines down."
- "Hey North Carolina. PRIMARY THOM TILLIS. Stop making us all suffer this RINO," wrote Rogan O'Handley, the popular social media user who goes by DC Draino and was featured in the "new media" seat in a recent White House briefing.
- The National Pulse, a Trump-supportive outlet, published a piece dubbing Tillis a "traitor" over his opposition.
Yes, but: A source familiar with the matter told Axios that Martin probably didn't have the votes to get confirmed even before Tillis' public remarks.
- A bomb-throwing podcaster, Martin was on thin ice over his past appearances on Russian state media, which he originally didn't disclose to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- Last year, Martin praised a convicted Jan. 6 rioter who federally prosecutors described as a "Nazi sympathizer."
The other side: "He is the right man for the job and we look forward to his confirmation," White House spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told Axios after Tillis' comments.
