Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is in a lot of hot water after defending white nationalists, saying “I call them Americans” and defending their right to serve in the U.S. military.
The comments appear to signal that Tuberville approves of the white nationalist movement, which espouses the belief that white people are a superior race to others.
When asked on Thursday to clarify those comments, the former Auburn Tigers head coach seemed to make things worse for himself.
NBC News’s Julie Tsirkin spoke with the Senator on Thursday and tried to get him to clarify if he understands the definition of a white nationalist and if he actually defends people who feel that way.
AL Sen Tuberville, who just now made an attempt to clarify the comments he made about white nationalists in the military being "Americans", asks me to define what a white nationalist is.
Here's some of our exchange: pic.twitter.com/YGJlKJtrit
— Julie Tsirkin (@JulieNBCNews) May 11, 2023
“The Democrats characterize all MAGA Republicans in the military as white nationalists,” said Tuberville, who then asked Tsirkin to define the term for him.
“A white nationalist propagates Nazism, “said Tsirkin. “A white nationalist could be someone who doesn’t believe that Black or Brown people are equals.”
“A white nationalist is a Nazi?” asked Tuberville. When Tsirkin said that could be one of their beliefs, the Senator said “I don’t look at it like that.
“I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican. That’s what we’re called all the time.”
Tuberville is doing some strong work for Democrats here, admitting that he sees a connection has been made between white nationalists and the leading Republican candidate to be the next President of the United States.
Instead of taking a step back and getting some perspective over why many people might see a correlation between the two, it sounds like Tuberville is going to double down and be the defender of what he considers white nationalists. Bold strategy.
