Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said he is "totally against" Democrats calling white nationalists racist, sparking another controversy as he continues to blockade military confirmations.
Tuberville repeatedly said in a Monday night CNN interview that he rejects racism but pushed back against host Kaitlan Collins when she told him the definition of white nationalism. Merriam-Webster defines the term as "one of a group of militant white people who espouse white supremacy and advocate enforced racial segregation."
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However, the Alabama senator said that definition of white nationalism is "some people's opinion."
“My opinion of a white nationalist, if someone wants to call them white nationalist, to me, is an American. It’s an American," Tuberville said. "Now if that white nationalist is a racist, I’m totally against anything that they want to do because I am 110% against racism."
Tuberville proceeded to accuse Democrats of using the term white nationalist to push "identity politics," which he claims is "ruining this country."
Asked to clarify his comments on white nationalists in the military, Sen. Tommy Tuberville's response: pic.twitter.com/deTfS4XKnR
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 11, 2023
Tuberville reaffirmed his position on Tuesday when asked by reporters about his comments from Monday.
"I'm totally against racism," Tuberville said. "And if Democrats want to say that white nationalists are racist, I'm totally against that, too."
I asked Sen. Tuberville why he continues to insist white nationalists are American.
— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) July 11, 2023
And he repeatedly tried to move on when pressed further. pic.twitter.com/y2zhfy1j7Q
The Alabama senator has been in the news most recently for stalling several senior military nominations in an attempt to end a Defense Department policy that provides funding for service members to travel for abortions.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lambasted Tuberville for his comments on the Senate floor on Tuesday, calling on the Alabama senator to apologize.
"The senator from Alabama is wrong, wrong, wrong,” Schumer said. “The definition of white nationalism is not a matter of opinion. White nationalism, the ideology that one race is inherently superior to others, that people of color should be segregated, subjected to second-class citizenship, is racist down to its rotten core. For the senator from Alabama to obscure the racist nature of white nationalism is indeed very, very dangerous.”