House Republican defends Tuberville over reparations remark

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Sunday defended Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) after the senator said Democrats want reparations for minorities because their party is “pro-crime.”

Bacon told guest host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he “wouldn’t say it the same way” but that politicians should be “honest that we have a crime problem in our country.”

“I’m not going to say he’s being racist. But I wouldn’t use that language, be more polite. But the fact is we can’t ignore we have a 40 to 50 percent violent crime increase,” Bacon said. “And it’s unacceptable. When a guy commits a crime the first time, shame on them. When society releases that same criminal and they create more victims, that’s shame on us for letting that happen.”

At a rally on Saturday, Tuberville said crime was out of control and slammed Democrats as radicals on the issue.

“No, they’re not soft on crime. They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got,” Tuberville said. “They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

Crime has become a major sticking point in the midterm elections for Republicans, who are seizing on high crime rates and some liberal policies that favor releasing less violent criminals rather than incarcerating them.

In an interview with Real America’s Voice last week, former President Trump touched on crime and inflation repeatedly.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) released a campaign ad slamming Democrats for pushing the public against the police and suggesting Americans who hate cops should “call a crackhead” the next time they’re in trouble.

Bacon on Sunday pressed that crime is a major issue but disagreed with how Tuberville had come across on the issue.

“That’s not the way I present things,” the GOP lawmaker said.