Tommy Tuberville’s claim to fame as a football coach was derived from his silver-tongued salesmanship when it came time to recruit African-American teens, in their homes, and in front of their parents or coaches to his program. He peaked at Auburn in the early-to-mid 2000s and then bounced right when Nick Saban’s reign began at Alabama. Tuberville tried to depict himself in a positive light, but the clues were always there that he was a scumbag. Tuberville bounced between jobs after leaving Auburn in 2008 and when he couldn’t cut it in college football anymore, he transitioned to a sector where he could showcase his disdain for Americans while also displaying his stunning lack of intellect — the United States Senate.
These days, Tuberville is a detestable extreme right-wing Senator from Alabama, where he’s served since being elected to serve. In the Senate in 2020, the cause Tuberville expressed sympathy for was the exiling of white nationalists from polite society, government, and military institutions. More specifically, he harbors disdain for anyone who opposes white nationalists proliferating through the military.
Tuberville asks reporter to define what a white nationalist is
During a recent interview with WHBM in Birmingham, Alabama, Tuberville expressed his grievance with white nationalists being rooted out of the military.
“Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don’t believe in our agenda, as Joe Biden’s agenda,” Tuberville told host Richard Banks.
When reporters followed up on his controversial statements, Tuberville twisted himself into a pretzel during an exchange. Initially, he attempted to defend his stance by asking NBC News reporter Julie Tsirkin to define what a white nationalist is. After Tsirkin informed an apparently surprised Tuberville that a white nationalist “is someone who propagates Naziism. Someone who doesn’t believe Black and Brown people are equal to White people,” the Alabama senator coyly asked if a white nationalist is a Nazi. That type of ignorance will be commonplace in a world where Republicans ban books and neuter history.
Tisrkin succinctly edified Tuberville on the well-established shared beliefs of Nazis and white nationalists. However, Tuberville disagreed, responding, “ I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican.”
I did say he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, didn’t I? As an SEC football coach, Tuberville shrouded his despicable beliefs behind the phone coach persona, but his turn towards protecting white nationalists is in sharp opposition to beliefs that Black people are criminals, his opposition to Middle Eastern immigrants, and his refusal to condemn racism.
Tuberville attempted to course-correct by blathering on about how Democrats are to blame for his own tongue relating white nationalists to MAGA Americans, but the Freudian slip speaks for itself. I haven’t seen a defense that raggedy since Tuberville’s final season on a sideline.