Shortly after he won his US Senate seat in 2020, Tommy Tuberville gave an interview in which he failed to identify the three branches of the federal government, incorrectly claimed World War II was about fighting European socialism, and said that Al Gore was president-elect for 30 days in 2000. Unfortunately for America, things did not get much better from there and Tuberville’s four years in DC could be kindly described as embarrassing at best. Even more unfortunate for the people of Alabama, Tuberville would now like to come home by way of the governor’s mansion, announcing Tuesday that he has entered the gubernatorial race. In light of that news, let’s look back at the “highlights” of his time in Washington.
What is the Voting Rights Act?
Don’t ask Tuberville! While trying to convince the people of Alabama to send him to the Senate, this is how the then candidate described the 1965 legislation: “The thing about the Voting Rights Act is, you know, there’s a lot of different things you can look at it as. Who is it going to help? What direction do we need to go with it? I think it’s important that everything we do we keep secure. We keep an eye on it. It’s run by our government.”
What is IVF?
Again, do not ask Tommy Tuberville, who responded to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children by saying, “I was all for it. We need to have more kids, we need to have an opportunity to do that, and I thought this was the right thing to do.” Informed that IVF is a method by which people are able to have children when they otherwise could not, and that some clinics had paused the procedure as a result of the ruling, Tuberville responded, “Well, that’s for another conversation. We need more kids. We need people to have the opportunity to have kids.”
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Are you smarter than a fifth grader?
Tuberville, unfortunately, is not. As previously mentioned, during a November 2020 interview, the then senator-elect claimed the “three branches” of the federal government are “the House, the Senate, and executive.” Oops!
Fascism, socialism, same diff no diff
During that same interview, Tuberville, warning that half of the US wanted a socialist government, said: “As I tell people, my dad fought 76 years ago in Europe to free Europe of Socialism.” Was Tuberville’s father fighting a secret war against socialism that no one knew about, or does Tuberville not know that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party were fascists? Unclear.
That whole military blockade
Tuberville angered not just Democrats but his own party when he led a 10-month blockade on confirming military promotions as part of an antiabortion campaign that GOP senator Dan Sullivan said helped our adversaries in China and Russia and which one Navy admiral warned will take “years to recover” from.
Is coaching college football as taxing as leading the US military?
According to Tuberville, yes. Speaking to reporters about the medical emergency suffered by Marine Corps Commandant General Eric Smith—which Army veteran and then Senate Armed Services Committee chair Jack Reed said he believed was in part due to being overworked as a result of Tuberville’s blockade—the senator scoffed at the idea that he had anything to do with it. “The Marine Corps commandant probably got 2,000 people working for him,” Tuberville said. “Jack Reed blamed me for his heart attack. Come on, give me a break. This guy is going to work 18–20 hours a day, no matter what. That’s what we do. I did that for years.”
What is the job of a US senator?
Not scrutinizing a president’s Cabinet nominees, apparently. Earlier this year, Tuberville said lawmakers should simply rubber-stamp the 47th president’s Cabinet picks, which would explain how we got this guy.
That bit about white nationalists
In 2023, Tuberville defended white nationalists in the military and then doubled down on the position. (Later, he ultimately came around to the idea that “white nationalists are racists.”) By the way, here’s how another Republican defended Tuberville against claims of racism, telling Rolling Stone: “I do not believe that Tommy Tuberville is a racist at all. I really believe that maybe he doesn’t have an understanding of the English language.”
Dog whistle remarks on “inner city” teachers
“The COVID really brought it out how bad our schools are and how bad our teachers are—in the inner city,” Tuberville said the same month as his white nationalist remarks. “Most of them in the inner city, I don’t know how they got degrees, to be honest with you. I don’t know whether they can read and write.”
Geopolitical genius?
Coach Tuberville said in January that the then president-elect should take over the Panama Canal in case of a theoretical war with China, because why not:
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TFW you find yourself agreeing with longtime anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. on vaccines
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The post Tommy Tuberville Wants to Stop Embarrassing Himself in the Senate, Start Embarrassing Himself in the Alabama Governor’s Mansion appeared first on Vanity Fair.
