Tuberville on white nationalists remarks: ‘No, we don’t need racism anywhere’

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Tuesday said that he wasn’t suggesting in an interview earlier this month that he wants white nationalists in the U.S. military, after his initial remarks sparked criticism. 

“No, we don’t need racism anywhere. Military, in our society. We’ve had it before. I think we’re less racist now in our country than we’ve ever been,” Tuberville said on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live,” when asked if he was suggesting the U.S. needs white nationalists in the military.

The senator had been asked by WBHM radio whether he believes white nationalists should be allowed in the military. 

“Well, they call them that,” Tuberville had said, referring to Biden-administration officials. “I call them Americans.”

Those comments drew scrutiny, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemning them as “utterly revolting.”

Pressed on NewsNation whether he’d clarify his answer if asked the question again, Tuberville said, “Exactly. You know, we don’t need extremists in the military and, again, as I said, they put everything in a group all the time. They try to make things look bad.”

Tuberville also said Tuesday that President Biden “proved that we don’t have racism in the military,” and argued evaluations have shown “99.9 percent of the people in the military were people that fit the military, that want to serve in the military, that want to protect our country.”

“So, it’s just this resentment politics. It’s this group that’s trying to throw out there, they want everybody to be against each other and they have no agenda. They have no plan to run the country, so they just want everybody to fight against each other, and I don’t put up with it,” Tuberville added.

“I go right back at them, and I believe in America; I believe in a Christian America, I believe in an America that can survive with great people doing the right thing, but from different societies and different groups.”

Tuberville’s office had sought to clarify the senator’s initial response, saying in a statement to AL.com that it “shows that he was being skeptical of the notion that there are white nationalists in the military, not that he believes they should be in the military.”

A spokesman for Tuberville also told The Washington Post earlier this month that the Alabama Republican “resents the implication that the people in our military are anything but patriots and heroes.”