Senator Tommy Tuberville faced criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday for his remarks about white nationalism, marking another instance in which the first-term
lawmaker has diverged from the Senate's long-standing tradition.
Traditionally, members in their first six-year term are expected to build relationships and establish areas of legislative expertise without causing controversy. However, Tuberville, who has already stirred controversy by blocking many of President Joe Biden's nominees to military positions over abortion, has taken a different approach.
Schumer called on Tuberville's fellow Republicans to encourage him to apologize after recounting recent interviews in which the Alabama senator discussed white nationalists serving in the U.S. military. During a May interview with an Alabama radio station, Tuberville responded to a question about white nationalists by saying, "I call them Americans."
When pressed on that statement in a CNN interview on Monday, Tuberville stated, "If we are going to do away with most white people in this country out of the military, we've got huge problems." He emphasized his opposition to racism while stating that he was against any beliefs of white nationalists that involved racism.
Schumer's call for an apology and his suggestion that Tuberville's words could contribute to "bigotry and intolerance" were met with silence from Tuberville's aides, who did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune, when asked about Tuberville issuing an apology, emphasized that there is no place for white nationalism in the Republican Party, the military, or the country as a whole. Thune expressed uncertainty about Tuberville's intended message and how it might be interpreted.
Tuberville, who assumed office in 2021, has been blocking Biden's military nominees to protest the Pentagon's funding of travel costs for abortions for service members and their dependents. The Defense Department began providing this funding after the Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade was struck down last year, granting a constitutional right to abortion.
Air Force General Charles "C.Q." Brown, Biden's nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned Congress on Tuesday that Tuberville's blockade could have significant implications for the U.S. military as a whole. Photo by United States Senate Photographic Studio, Wikimedia commons.