Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told Breitbart News on Thursday that he rejects white nationalism and racism, after he made controversial remarks in a recent CNN interview that prompted critics to paint him as a racist.
“Of course, I reject white nationalism or racism of any kind,” Tuberville told Breitbart News in the exclusive interview. “But you gotta understand, ever since I’ve been here, that’s what the Democrats use towards anybody that’s a conservative, that’s a Christian, that’s a Republican or a Trump supporter.”
Tuberville was responding to attacks in recent days after he was pressed during a CNN interview on Tuesday about remarks he made back in May in a radio interview. In the radio interview, Tuberville was slamming the Biden Pentagon’s focus on “woke ideas” saying:
…look at Joe Biden’s — what he’s done to our military with the woke ideas, with the CRT that we’re teaching in our military. We are losing in the military so fast. Our readiness in terms of recruitment. And why? I’ll tell you why, because the 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. They’re destroying it. This year, we will not reach any recruiting goals in the military. So, if we want to talk about — looking weak — that’s where we’re going to look weak.
The host then asked Tuberville, “You mentioned the Biden administration trying to prevent white nationalists from being in the military. Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?”
Tuberville responded, “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.”
CNN’s Kaitlin Collins pressed him on his earlier remarks. Although Tuberville told CNN repeatedly that he was “totally against racism,” his remarks prompted establishment media reports that said he refused to call white nationalists “racist.”
Tuberville told Breitbart News unequivocally, “White Nationalism is racist. And I completely reject that.”
He maintained, however, that Democrats use that term broadly to smear conservatives.
“When they want to say racism, they just use nationalist or extremist, and I’m sick of that. I mean, I’m an American. I’m for everybody. And so I’m probably the most least racist person, because … I had a job working with a majority of minority kids as a coach, but they try to put you in a group where they can attack you,” he said.
“Democrats don’t have an agenda. All they want to do is attack people and divide us in identity politics. And identity politics is gonna ruin this country. And we have got to put a stop to it. So it’s just amazing,” he said.
“You know, they make me out like the bad guy when every day they’re trying to change this country to socialism. That’s something that the American people and that taxpayers don’t want, nor do they need it,” he said.
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