Thom Tillis
Role at the time: United States Senator for North Carolina, answering reporters’ questions on Capitol Hill
Statement summary
Asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill whether he would support the president’s apparent speculation about the Kennedy Center’s future, Senator Thom Tillis said “I think it’s absurd” and went on to refer to “abolishing or demolishing a memorial.” In the same answer he said “these are distractions we don’t need” and called worrying about what the building is named “kind of silly.”
“I think it’s absurd. Abolishing or demolishing a memorial [...] a worldwide known venue for arts.”
Forbes Breaking News's upload (3:31) of the hallway exchange, with an on-screen stamp "SEPTEMBER 17, 2026" and the lower third "SEN. THOM TILIS (R-NC) SPEAKS TO REPORTERS ON CAPITOL HILL" (the lower third misspells his surname). The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio, checked in independent passes. The video starts at the reporter's question, so anything earlier in the scrum is not shown. Between "memorial" and "a worldwide known venue" the recording has hesitation fillers and one indistinct word (CNN's rush transcript has "want --"); that stretch is omitted and marked [...].
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
Asked by a reporter whether he would support the president’s apparent speculation about the center’s future, Tillis answers “I think it’s absurd” about “abolishing or demolishing a memorial” and adds that worrying about the name is “kind of silly,” which rejects the outcome he names and treats the naming dispute as beside the point. The closest competing label is minimizes, because he also calls the naming dispute a distraction. That loses because his operative words answer the reporter’s question with an express rejection, which criticizes the position rather than downplaying its seriousness.