GOP senator’s scathing message to Stephen Miller: Get informed on Greenland or leave the job

By Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — GOP Sen. Thom Tillis had strong criticism for Stephen Miller Wednesday, going as far as to suggest the senior White House adviser’s job should be at risk for his recent comments on US control of Greenland.

“Look either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he knows what he’s talking about or get out of this job,” Tillis told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”

The comments from retiring North Carolina senator mark some of the strongest yet from a Republican lawmaker following the White House deputy chief of staff’s assertion that the US has the right to take Greenland.

Tillis, who has served as the top Republican on the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group since 2018, cautioned that Miller’s posturing has significant political implications.

Calling the NATO alliance “critically important,” he told Tapper that “shaking that alliance sends a signal to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that he’s winning.”

“And Stephen Miller doesn’t represent the US government, he represents the Article II branch. And I, as a member of the US Senate, get to weigh in to this issue,” he continued. “And I know, whether they say it out loud or not, most of my colleagues agree with me.”

Pressed on why more Republicans aren’t speaking out, Tillis said, “Well in this case it’s pretty straightforward. That’s my role as the Republican leader of the Senate NATO Observer Group.”

“It’s very important for the NATO alliance to know that we have their back because they’ve had ours.”

“We need to make it very clear that our strength and our ability to project power to stand off against Putin, to stand off Russia, to stand off China, Iran, it all rests on this exquisite capability that we have under NATO,” he said.

The remarks came just hours after Tillis delivered a searing speech on the Senate floor.

“I’m sick of stupid,” a fiery Tillis declared in the Senate. “I want good advice for this president, because I want this president to have a good legacy. And this nonsense on what’s going on with Greenland is a distraction from the good work he’s doing, and the amateurs who said it was a good idea should lose their jobs.”

On Monday, Miller asserted during an interview with Tapper that the formal position of the Trump administration is that “Greenland should be part of the United States.”

Miller also questioned Denmark’s claim over the Arctic territory. “What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?” he said.

Tillis told Tapper that Miller’s CNN interview was “horrible execution” on “a subject matter he knows nothing about.”

“What I saw in your interview was unacceptable,” Tillis said, adding, “And it made me a little cranky.”

Earlier, he told his colleagues that Miller’s comments were “absurd.”

“Mr. Miller said that the US government – obviously Greenland should be part of the US. That is absurd,” he said.

Tillis also warned that Miller’s comments distracted from the Trump administration’s military operation in Venezuela.

“What makes me cranky? Stupid. What makes me cranky is when people don’t do their homework. What makes me cranky is when we tarnish the extraordinary execution of a mission I fully support in Venezuela by turning around and making insane comments about how it is our right to have territory owned by the Kingdom of Denmark,” Tillis said.

“Folks, amateur hour is over. You don’t speak on behalf of this US senator or the Congress,” he continued.

The North Carolina senator emphasized in his floor remarks the value of the NATO alliance, and Denmark’s role in it. He pointed out Denmark’s “disproportionately high” contribution to the NATO response after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US, noting that they lost 43 soldiers in Afghanistan, out of a national population of 6 million.

“You want to get me back to thanking the president for all the good things he’s doing? Then give him good advice,” said Tillis.

Tillis had earlier issued a joint statement with the top Democrat on the Senate NATO Observer Group and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, criticizing the administration’s approach to Greenland.

“When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” the co-chairs said. “Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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CNN’s Kit Maher contributed to this report.