GOP senator tries to clarify comments on White nationalists in the military

Politics now, a sitting U.S. Senator who has already been criticized for racism has suddenly taken up the cause, seemingly, of white nationalists being able to serve in the U.S. military. In our radio interview this week, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had quite the flaming hot take. Democrats are attacking our military, so we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don't believe in our agenda as his Joe Biden agenda.

You mentioned the Biden administration trying to prevent white nationalists from being in the military. Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military? Well, they call them that. I call them Americans. Now on first blush, Senator Tuberville seems to be taking up the cause of white nationalists, people who believe in building a white-centric state, and he seems to be arguing they deserve to be armed and trained and to serve in the U.S. military. Tuberville's office has since attempted something of a cleanup effort, releasing a statement to Alabama.

com saying, quote, Senator Tuberville's quote that is cited 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, unquote. Today Tuberville talked to CNN off-camera and said, quote, here's the problem. Let's portray all MAGA Republicans as white nationalists. That's not true. We got a lot of great people in the military that are MAGAs. That's what I was talking about, unquote. All right, let's break this down.

Three points. First, no one, no one in the military is worried about MAGA Republicans serving in the U.S. military. That would be ludicrous for any number of reasons, especially given the fact that so many service members are conservative. Point two, obviously most service members do not fit the definition. But there is a white supremacist problem in the U.

S. military according to the U.S. military in study after study. And there's a long list of actual incidents and domestic terrorists who fall into this category. Point three, Senator Tuberville's attempt to distance himself from seeming to be standing up for the rights of white supremacists might be easier to believe if last fall Senator Tuberville had not made one of the most blatantly racist statements we've heard from a U.S.

senator in perhaps decades. He falsely suggested that Democrats like crime and he smeared black people as criminals. Take a listen. Some people say, well, they're soft on crime. No, they're not soft on crime. They're pro crime. They won't crime.

They won't crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that. Bullshit. They are not owed that. Senator Tuberville there saying that Democrats like crime and they want reparations, which is the term for payments made to individuals who are descendants of slaves, because they think that people that do the crime are owed that. That's just racism.

Tuberville not only defending the right of racist to serve in uniform, he's actively keeping right now high ranking military officials and officers out of uniform. Senator Tuberville is currently protesting new Pentagon policies implemented in the military that provide leave for troops or their families who need to travel to get an abortion because they are in a state where it is not permitted. There are currently 196 military nominations pending in the Senate. Generals. 604 three in four star positions that will need to be filled soon, including the chief of the staff of the army, the director of the national security agency, commander of U.S. cyber command.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week calling in a major national security risk blasted Tuberville in a letter writing quote, without these leaders in place the U.S. military will incur an unnecessary and unprecedented degree of risk at a moment when our adversaries may seek to test our resolve. This also of course has a trickle down effect on other military officer nominations, which in turn impacts regular military service members and their families who are moving to new installations for new assignments. The guy doing this, the guy holding up all these generals and admirals and colonels from being promoted and from the military for being ready for whatever threats the U.S. faces.

Senator Tuberville to sum up, he says black people are criminals. He says white nationalists are Americans. And I guess for Senator Tuberville the year is 1843. Let's talk about this with former Republican Congressman Adam Kinsey who served in the U.S. Air Force currently serves as lieutenant colonel in the air, National Guard. A lot to talk about here.

Let's start with his comments on white nationalists in the military and this idea that the Biden administration wants to purge. I mean, I'm not sure whether he is actually defending the idea of white nationalists serving in the military or he is lying about the fact that there's some effort to get Republicans out of the military. Well, I think he's lying about both. First off, there are some things I disagree with that are happening in the military. And as a pilot, I spend quite a bit of my time doing computer-based training on things that have nothing to do with my job. You can criticize that and you can make that an issue. But the idea that there aren't white nationalists is wrong.

There's some. It's not a lot, but there's some. And then the idea that they're Americans is crazy. You would just say, oh, they're Americans. They're fine. And the idea that there's this push to push out Republicans is not true either. Look, the U.

S. military is one of the last institutions to enjoy bipartisan support. I mean, even the FBI now is a partisan thing. Every person that tries to make the military a partisan issue, Ted Cruz tweeting about how great the Russians are despite the fact that they're getting crushed on the battlefield now, that kind of stuff, it's politicizing the military and that can't happen. And white nationalists, by the way, Jake, should be excluded from serving in the U.S. military.

I got asked when I joined the military if I was a communist or if I was a member of a group that sought the overthrow of the U.S. government. And if I'd have said yes, I wouldn't have been able to serve. We can expand that to include white nationalism. And I mean, for me, this comment about, well, I call them Americans, that coming after what he said about Democrats like crime, and that's why they want to give reparations to the people who do the crime. I can't recall a more blatantly racist statement by a member of the U.

S. Senate in literally in decades. Yeah. And the problem is, Jake, we're kind of like numb to the outrage now. There's so much outrage that is just constantly being thrown at us that it gets buried or we're like, oh, that's not a huge deal. I mean, it's outright blatant racism, what he said. I'm glad, I guess, he's trying to change what he meant by that.

I don't think it's inaccurate the changes, but at least he's recognizing that that's bad for him. But here's what happens. Everybody has a battle in their heart every day between light and dark. And when leaders stand up in front of you and they speak the dark parts of your hearts, the fears, all that kind of stuff, it gives permission for that darkness to overtake you. And leaders in America, for the most part, for all of our history, have realized they have to shed light. This is a time where they're standing in front of crowds and spewing darkness, and it's a frightening time, frankly. It is.

We heard some of that darkness last night also. Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thank you so much. As always, appreciate it.

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