Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville Under Fire for Demanding To Have More White Nationalists in Military

Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama who is currently holding up Joe Biden's military nominations, recently made comments about white nationalists in the military. This did not go well for him as it sparked outrage.

The outrage happened after CNN host Kaitlin Collins brought up comments that he made during an appearance on a local Alabama radio show last May. Around that time, he was criticizing efforts by the Pentagon to root out white nationalists in the military.

Tuberville was asked if he wanted white nationalists who believe whites are superior to other races to serve in the military. He answered that while the media calls them white nationalists, he calls them "American" so he does not oppose them from joining the military.

Tuberville drew criticisms from both sides of the aisle, with Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota saying that "the Republican party doesn't accept white nationalism." He also stated that he already talked to Tuberville about it.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York rebuked the Republican on the Senate floor, saying, "White nationalism has no place in our armed forces and no place in any corner of American society."

USA Today reported that author Stephen King also chimed in on Tuberville's comments, saying that the senator from Alabama "gives new meaning to the word idiot." Tuberville has since backtracked on his white nationalist comments and called them racists.

Tommy Tuberville Still Holding Up Biden Military Nominees, Endangering National Security

As he gets rebuked because of his white nationalist comments, Tuberville is also under fire for continually holding up hundreds of President Joe Biden's nominations to military office. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and called the senator's actions a "national security issue."

"This is a national security issue. It's a readiness issue. And, we shouldn't kid ourselves. I think any member of the Senate Armed Services Committee knows that," the Defense secretary said after the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The senator is holding up the nominees in protest of the military's abortion policy.

"We have a policy that allows our troops to get access to non-covered reproductive health care and I think that's an important policy," said Austin during his Thursday interview. "One in five of my troops ... is a woman and our women provide tremendous value to this force and I think we need to do everything we can to take care of them.

Tommy Tuberville Causing Problems With the Military

Because of the Alabama Republican's protest, several important nominees have left branches of the military leaderless, including the US Marine Corps, which currently does not have a commandant because Tuberville is blocking the nomination, according to The Hill.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder recently spoke with reporters and stated that Tuberville's holdup of nominees has a "domino effect" on service members as the US military's force management is predicated on senior leaders retiring to allow lower officers to be promoted to key positions.

The senator's actions are making promotions stagnate and impact the families of service members who are waiting for updates regarding new assignments, "which then gets into questions about things like housing, schools, other aspects associated with a move."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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