Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) struck back at President Joe Biden, calling him "a better senator than a president."
The retort was in response to Biden's quip that Tuberville was "a better coach than he’s a senator.” Biden's comment came in an interview with Politico. Tuberville has become a favorite target of Biden's, largely due to his protest against the Pentagon's abortion policy, which has held up hundreds of promotions of staff and general officers.
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Tuberville's direct response to Biden came following the latter's frequent mocking of the senator as "the former football coach from Alabama," seemingly refusing to refer to Tuberville by his name.
“He was a better senator than a president,” the senator quipped to Politico in direct response to Biden suggesting he was better as a football couch.
He elaborated, saying it's “not just about abortion,” though he strongly opposes the practice. Instead, he argued, the protest is about government overreach.
“Remember, it’s also about dictating from the White House. Being a dictator, we don’t need dictators," he said. "You can’t dictate a law. It’s supposed to go through us.”
Biden has ramped up criticism against Tuberville in recent months as more attention has turned to the Alabama senator over the promotion logjam.
Tuberville was in the spotlight earlier this week following controversial comments he made when asked about white nationalists in the military. The senator originally said that it was a matter of opinion whether or not they were racist, but he later backtracked and said they were. He said that his original comments were misconstrued and that he was actually attacking Democrats' belief that Republicans and conservatives are white nationalists.
Biden has intensified attacks against Tuberville over the past month for his Pentagon protest.
“It’s bizarre. I don’t remember it happening before,” Biden said of Tuberville's blocking of nominations and promotions last month. “I know I don’t look like I’ve been around, but I’ve been around a long time.”
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In turn, Tuberville has blamed Biden and his administration for what he sees as an overreach of its power. He blamed the Biden administration for the holdup in nominations due to its refusal to compromise.
“Yesterday, The White House press secretary was asked why they haven’t reached out to me at all from the White House," Tuberville said on the Senate floor last month. "She said, ‘I do not know. I do not know when the last time is the White House has talked to the senator.’ I’ll tell you when the last time was: never. The White House has not reached out to me once in four months. No one has contacted me. There’s not been one conversation. Not one path forward. I’ve spoken to Secretary Austin outside of Armed Services hearing exactly once in the last two years. That was a 10-minute phone call three months ago. He made absolutely no effort to find a compromise in our situation.”