He can with Kai release I'll explain why.
Hashirama was immune to the effects of mind control which is what genjutsu basically is, controlling the neurons in someone's brain. Other techniques that influence a person's will have the same weaknesses as genjutsu.
i.e : Kurama protected Naruto from being controlled by Pain's rod same way he protects him from genjutsu, Sasuke broke Danzo's seal by releasing chakra same way he broke Tsukuyomi
Manga has shown that any technique that influences a person's ability to control themselves like genjutsu, ET, Pain's rods, and Danzo's seal, can be broken with the chakra release method, logically the same applies to Tsukuyomi. In the end it's still a genjutsu and therefore has the same weaknesses.
Tsukuyomi can be broken but requires a very high level of chakra to do so, as we know Hashirama's chakra is miles above hebi Sasuke so logically the genjutsu will not work on him. Itachi was limited by his perspective, he never faced anyone near Hashi's level so to him Tsukuyomi seemed unbreakable as much as Nagato seemed unbeatable.