Cutting Medicaid or Cutting It Out? Wiley Nickel's Battle Against Thom Tillis!

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:00

We have a special guest today. He's been with us before.

Wiley Nickel was on our February 20th episode, and a few weeks later, I think it's April 9th, he announced that he's running for the US Senate here in North Carolina, the seat currently held by Thom Tillis. So, Wiley, hey, thanks for. Thanks for coming back and giving us an update on how things are going.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:00:28

Yeah, no, thanks for having me.

You were some of the first to hear about this, this race for the Senate ahead of our announcement, and now been campaigning, traveling all over the state, doing everything we possibly can to send Thom Tillis packing.

Col Moe Davis: 00:00:42

So why don't you like Tom Tillis? I mean, what. Look at all the good stuff he's done for North Carolina, like trying to cut Medicaid and Medicare and all the other things.

So why are you taking him on?

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:00:53

Well, I think, you know, it's a simple proposition. We need a senator with a backbone.

And Thom Tillis has shown over and over that when the chips are down, Thom Tillis lays down for Donald Trump, for Elon Musk, and for policies that are just horrible for North Carolina. That's been my biggest frustration with, you know, what we see in Washington, especially on the Republican side.

You know, serving in the House, I made, you know, good friendships and relationships with Democrats and Republicans. And the worst of them were the ones who privately said that what Trump was doing is horrible. You know, he was a disgrace.

And then publicly, they're his biggest cheerleaders. And Thom Tillis certainly fits into that, that group of folks that continues to enable Donald Trump.

You know, he said he didn't like the tariffs that Trump was putting forward. And then he voted for them twice. You know, he said that Pete Hegseth wouldn't be a good secretary of defense.

And then at the last minute, he caved under pressure and voted to confirm Pete Hegseth, who we know is a walking national security disaster. And. And, you know, you know, you hear about this. This Wall street trade, the taco trade for Trump. Trump always chickens out.

It works for Thom Tillis, too. You know, Taco Tillis. Tillis always chickens out. That's. That's what we're seeing in the Senate. We deserve a lot better.

Col Moe Davis: 00:02:10

Yeah. And you probably saw he had an op ed in the Hill last week where he. He praises the tax cuts, praises the Trump agenda, and he's doing the same thing.

I'm running here in western North Carolina against Chuck Edwards.

And it must be, I guess, the Republican playbook is to only talk about the tax Cuts because both Tillis and Edwards have put out that, you know, virtually every income bracket gets a tax cut. But they leave out the part about the benefit cuts that help offset that.

So how's that going to impact folks here in North Carolina if those benefit cuts go through?

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:02:50

Yeah, they really don't want to talk about that. But that's a huge piece of this bill.

Taking away Medicaid from over 500,000 North Carolinians will lose Medicaid coverage because of what's in this bill. They are gutting support for good green jobs, slashing those programs that were passed as part of the inflation Reduction Act.

And all of this is to give billionaires like Elon Musk an even bigger tax break.

This is literally trillions of dollars in tax giveaways to the ultra wealthy who will no longer, you know, who, who will pay even less of their fair share because of it. And, and middle class voters are going to get totally screwed. They're the ones who are going to be left paying the bill for so much of this.

So cutting, cutting our health care to give tax cuts to, to the ultra wealthy, you know, that's, that's what really is in this bill. You know, they call it a big beautiful bill, but it's a big, it's a big ugly scam and it's really bad for, for folks in, you know, in North Carolina.

And untilis though, you know, just has gone even a step further as the Senate has this bill now and said he doesn't not just want to come after Medicaid, he wants to come after Medicare too. Over 2 million North Carolinians rely on Medicare and, and he wants to cut Medicare as well to help fund these tax cuts for the billionaires.

Col Moe Davis: 00:04:13

Yeah, I thought it was bad enough out here with Chuck Edwards supporting the, the version of the bill that made it through the House. But as you said, tell us said he wants deeper cuts. You know, we're not, we're not hurting people enough.

We got to hurt them more than what the House was willing to do.

So yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what, what happens with this bill because you know, it's funny how the Republicans are, and you know, from having served in Congress, they, they bitch and complain about debt and deficit and when there's a Democrat in the White House and then they just totally ignore it when it's one of their own and they want to get something through to help big corpor and rich people. But I think this bill, currently they're saying at least $3 trillion added to the national debt.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:04:57

Yeah.

No, and if you're Thom Tillis, if you're Chuck Edwards and you say you're a fiscal, you know, fiscal conservative, you know, no, no effing way are you a fiscal conservative. You vote to add $2.4 trillion to the national debt on top of the cuts to health care, on top of the tax giveaways to billionaires.

You know, this is, this is, these are huge, you know, you know, this is a huge boost to, to our, our deficit, our debt because of the bill. And that's, there's, there's nothing fiscally conservative about that.

Col Moe Davis: 00:05:28

Yeah, yeah, I was, I was disappointed.

You know, you mentioned earlier about, you know, Tillis was leading the fight to stop the confirmation of Pete Headseth and, and got the, I guess sister in law is one of the ex wives to, you know, promised her if she would do an affidavit about headset, his alcoholism and his abusive behavior, then he would, he would kill the nomination. And then Trump said, well, you know, tell us doesn't play ball, then I'll find somebody in primary him. And like you said, he caved.

He did stand up on, on Ed Martin, you know, who was going to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and he did manage to kill that nomination.

But in lieu of Ed Martin, we got Judge Box of Wine, who's now the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. So I don't know that that's much better.

And I guess Ed Martin now is handling pardons, which, you know, the White House is selling for, you know, whatever the, the going rate is.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:06:27

No, absolutely. You know, and, and you know, we, we see that, you know, this is an administration where you, you pay, you can get whatever you want.

And that's, that's been the case with the pardons and so much of what's happening. Tillis continues to, to try to talk out of both sides of his mouth day.

You know, he's cheerleading for all of the stuff that we're seeing out of this Trump administration. And we deserve a senator with a backbone. That's, I think that's the simple message. Someone who's going to stand up for North Carolina.

And that's definitely not Thom Tillis.

David B. Wheeler: 00:06:59

That that's true. A politician telling the truth. Thanks, Wy. So two things.

Number one, thanks to Abby on your team for always being so responsive and helpful, getting these events together and having been staff, yourself and myself having been staff, you know, those folks need a shout out once in a while. She's working really hard. Secondly, my dog is in the room and you may hear him panting. He just ran for, went for a run.

So you may hear somebody panning and it's not me or my 27 year old girlfriend, but so you've been on the trail for a while and I'm just curious, you know, how's it going? How are you feeling? What, what are you hearing from folks?

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:07:47

You know, I mean, it's been a great start to the campaign. You know, Murphy to Manio covering the entire state. We got a big state and we got a lot of problems. People are upset.

They are feeling the costs of Donald Trump's tariffs already. And, and the, you know, the, the folks in North Carolina, you know, we have, you know, a, a truly a purple state.

We have independent minded voters and they were pretty, they were pretty straightforward what they wanted out of this last election. They wanted someone to go and tackle inflation and to help bring down costs. And what they're seeing is exactly the opposite.

Donald Trump is doing everything he can to help, you know, make inflation go up with these, with these tax cuts for billionaires that are going to add trillions to our national debt.

And then these tariffs are going to cause everybody to pay an extra three or four thousand dollars a year in taxes, you know, because of the tariffs, with the increased cost of goods, you know, that's not helping folks. And folks are struggling around the state. They need someone who's going to stand up for them.

That's been the biggest thing that I've seen as I've been talking to voters all over the state. You know, they're getting totally screwed by what's happening in Washington.

And Donald Trump and his good buddy Thom Tillis continue to just fleece the country for everything they can. This is the most corrupt administration ever. And the folks like Tillis who enable it really are the worst of what we're seeing in Washington.

And the folks that disappoint me the most because they know what's right and.

David B. Wheeler: 00:09:12

They do the opposite and they're doing nothing for western North Carolina right now. They're trying to screw the state out of the 10% that would normally be extended on the FEMA funds.

What are you hearing from folks about Tillis and his focus, or lack thereof, on healing, recovery?

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:09:37

Yeah, it's really disappointing because, you know, we had, you know, the Biden administration, you know, working to do everything humanly possible to help western North Carolina. And Donald Trump, you know, he wants to get rid of fema. That's his solution is is getting rid of fema.

That would cost North Carolina and, and states around the country dearly if we, if we end, you know, and, and, you know, get rid of fema. But he has not been there to support western North Carolina.

He's, he's given just a fraction of what, you know, a president ought to do to, to stand with western North Carolina. And, and, you know, it's, it's, it's there, it's, it's all there in black and white.

You can see the numbers and the dollars as things aren't getting fixed.

As you know, we're not reimbursing North Carolina the way that, that Donald Trump promised and certainly the, the last administration was doing, you know, and it's going to hurt. And that's, that's, that's part of what, you know, I think is, is wrong with Washington.

You know, you have someone like Trump who, who promises all these things and then delivers absolutely nothing. You know, he said, you know, as, just as, as we're watching the world, you know, set itself on fire here with wars in Iran, Israel and Ukraine.

You know, he said he was going to end all of these wars immediately.

And of course, it's gotten much worse because he surrounded himself with a bunch of idiots who have no clue what they're doing and are only in, in these positions of power because of their blind loyalty to Donald Trump. And we're all suffering because of it.

And, and again, it's the folks like Tillis who really could have been the dis, who were the deciding vote for, for all of these confirmations, for, for these important positions, you know, continuing to stand with Trump in spite of all the evidence the contrary, that, that these folks had no clue what they're doing?

David B. Wheeler: 00:11:23

Well, I think I've never seen a bigger bunch of drama queens in my life than this White House. They seem to love the drama.

You know, they create the problem and then pretend like they're going to solve it and, and then blame it on the Democrats when they it up again. But, so listen, you know, I'm a big fan of yours and Mo and I, I think both came out, or at least I did pretty early for you.

e sworn in will be, you know,: 2027

Will you commit to making sure that during this campaign and once you're in office that folks out here in western North Carolina get what they deserve on this Hillian recovery.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:12:19

Yeah. I made this promise when I was in Congress when I visited western North Carolina as part of a, a congressional delegation led by fema.

I'm going to fight like Hill and work with every ounce of my energy to continue to support western North Carolina. And the recovery is not going to, it's not going to be done in a month or a year. It's going to take years.

And what I'm especially worried about is the economic hit for the region. We're talking about loss of jobs, loss of business.

Those are things that we need to continue fighting for to help bring back tourists to the, to the region so that we can, you know, businesses can get back up on their feet. There's a lot we got to do. And you just need a senator who's willing to stand up for North Carolina.

And that's fundamentally the choice that folks are going to have to make, is they, do they want a senator who's there to serve Donald Trump or they want someone who's going to serve everybody in our state?

Col Moe Davis: 00:13:10

Yeah.

David B. Wheeler: 00:13:11

All right, that's terrific. And we're going to hold you to that, as you would expect.

Secondly, could, could you also please just commit to, I know it's, it's difficult not knowing what circumstances are coming up in the future. It's not difficult to commit to telling folks the truth, even when they, maybe it's not the most pleasant thing for a politician to do.

And, and I, this may be an empty question or a silly question, but God damn it, could you just commit to being straight with people out here? I, I, I think up here in the mountains, especially, people like straight talk from politicians.

And, you know, the fact that Tom Tillis never comes here, first of all, is annoying as hell, but then he makes all these promises that he backs out of, and Mo been a pretty good librarian of those issues. Just commit to us to be a, you know, a real partner with us out here and tell us the truth.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:14:19

And that, that's 100%. You know, Dave, that's what the voters expect. That's, that's what they deserve as someone who's going to be straightforward and honest.

And, you know, and I, you know, like to use this expression, you know, money talks and walks. You know, when I was in Congress, I held 16 town hall meetings, you know, and some of them were tough.

I had protesters, I had people with, with angry questions. But when you, you send someone to Washington to be your voice, you, you better expect that they're going to answer your questions.

And they're going to stay there with you when, whenever, you know, when you, when you take those, those jobs in Washington. So, you know, I'm going to continue to do that to, to show up for folks, answer the questions. And, and that's, that's the job.

And if you can't commit to doing that, you're just really in the wrong line of work. And unfortunately, so many of the folks in Washington just have no interest in doing that.

They know that they are in their safe, cushy seat and, you know, they, so many of them just refuse to really engage because like Virginia Fox said, oh, I'm not going to do a town hall meeting. They're just going to yell at me. Of course they're going to yell at you, Virginia. You're, you're doing a horrible job for the state.

Col Moe Davis: 00:15:32

Well, listen, I hope you will, you know, get back out here to western North Carolina. I give a lot of credit to the Governor Stein. You know, when he was running and certainly since he's been in office, he spent a lot of time out here.

And I think you can, you can find some fertile ground out here with, you know, the NC11 Republicans, when they had their meeting a couple weeks back, voted to censure Tom Tillis. So there's no love lost for Tom Tillis out in western North Carolina, even amongst the Republicans.

So, you know, get back out here and meet with the folks and, you know, you can make some headway out in western North Carolina.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:16:11

But no, I, I'm looking forward to getting out as much as I can, you know, and, and hope to be campaigning out there with you too, Mo.

But, but, you know, we've got a lot at stake in this election, and it, for me, it matters, you know, that we get folks out to vote, we get people excited about this election, every single part of the state.

Because after, you know, losing my seat to gerrymandering, the one thing that I know that is true about North Carolina is you can't gerrymander the boundaries of our state. So everybody's vote matters.

And it's going to be a close election where turnout is going to make a big difference and folks need to hear from the folks who want to represent them. Washington. So look forward to getting out there with you.

Col Moe Davis: 00:16:52

All right. We look forward to seeing you. And again, hey, thanks for taking time out.

I know you're busy and I know folks appreciate hearing from you and getting an update on your campaign. And as David said, we certainly wish you the best. So hang in there and keep fighting.

Rep. Wiley Nickel: 00:17:07

Hey, thanks so much. It was great to be with. You have me. I'm glad to come back. Anytime.

Col Moe Davis: 00:17:11

Thanks. We'll definitely do it.

So, Wiley Nickel, running for Senate here in North Carolina, trying to take out Thom Tillis and hope you'll go to his website, check him out, donate, and let's help get someone sent to Washington who's going to represent the people of North Carolina, not just big corporations and the wealthy.