For a few decades there, an opportunity to denounce racists used to be the softest of softball questions you could lob at a politician. There are a lot of people who would like to believe that even the most deeply racist lawmakers would want to keep their beliefs secret, fearing the consequences we hope would come from sharing them publicly. Then someone like Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville comes along and reminds us how far that is from our current reality, and just how comfortable people like him feel in sharing their most horribly racist thoughts.
Tuberville was on CNN Monday and he took the opportunity to say some stupid, racist things. Per The Daily Beast:
“The thing about being a ‘white nationalist’—it’s just a cover word for the Democrats now where they can use it to try to make people mad across the country. Identity politics: I’m totally against that,” Tuberville complained.
Anchor Kaitlan Collins then sought clarification, asking him if he believes that white nationalists should be kept out of the armed forces.
But Tuberville couldn’t give a clear answer.
“If people think a white nationalist is a racist, I would agree,” he said.
When Collins responded by describing such a person as one “who believes that the white race is superior to other races,” Tuberville blurted out: “Well, that’s some people’s opinion.”
“My opinion of a white nationalist—if somebody wants to call them a white nationalist—to me, it is an American,” Tuberville reiterated. “Now, if that white nationalist is a racist, I’m totally against anything that they want to do. Because I am 110 percent against racism.”
Later in the interview, Tuberville seemed to suggest that he believes that white nationalists are simply white people.
“So, if you’re going to do away with most white people in this country out of the military, we got huge problems,” the senator said.
Here’s part of the racist word salad exchange:
I genuinely believe the reports that this man is the dumbest Senator because listening to that interview made me feel like my own brain cells were atrophying due to their close proximity to hearing something that bone-deeply stupid. This man has a brain of fetid cottage cheese. What he was saying was barely coherent, but the gist of it is that to Tommy Tuberville, white nationalists are simply Americans, and calling white nationalists racist is just an opinion and not a fact. (Narrators note: it is not an opinion. White nationalists are racist, vile scum. This is a fact.) If you really feel like punching the wall, just wait because this is what Newsmax aired the same night Tuberville had his CNN interview:
When you make the dips**** happy over at Newsmax, you know you’ve done something deeply racist. That should be the first sign.
The exchange on CNN was condemned by both party leaders in the Senate—sort of. Mitch McConnell isn’t a dumb evil monster (he’s an evil monster with at least two brain cells to rub together) and he understands this could cost the Republicans some votes. So he condemned what Tuberville said, while also refusing to condemn Tuberville directly for saying it. Per CNN:
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called White nationalism “unacceptable.” Asked by CNN if he was concerned by Tuberville’s refusal to denounce it, McConnell replied, “White supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in the whole country.”
As the criticism rolled in, Tuberville tried to defend himself and this man really needs to keep his mouth shut because it did not go well:
This is literally not how any of this works. How does every time he opens his mouth, he says something more racist and awful?! It’s not enough that he says stupid, awful things that are concurrently the stupidest takes alive, but he’s also being a harmful a-hole in the Senate as well. He’s blocking military nominations because he’s mad the Pentagon supports service members and their dependents traveling out of state to seek abortion procedures. Look at this point we all just have to lean into how ignorant this man is. Someone, please get him to try to explain what abortion even is because the chances are pretty high he has no idea. Per CNN:
Tuberville has been holding military nominations in the Senate as part of a protest of Pentagon reproductive health policies announced earlier this year that provide additional support to service members and dependents who must travel out of state to receive an abortion.
[…]
Asked by Collins whether he knows better than seven former defense secretaries who penned a letter in May arguing the hold was “harming military readiness and risks damaging US national security,” Tuberville said: “They were nominated, they weren’t elected. I was elected to represent the people of Alabama in this country.”
Ah yes, I’m glad some brainless creep in Alabama can hold up the nomination process of essential positions in the military, affecting me, who [checks notes] lives in Illinois. This system sure makes a lot of sense!
(featured image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
