Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville refused to define white nationalists as racist: 'Well, that's your opinion,' he told CNN host.
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville was asked to clarify remarks about white nationalists in the armed forces.
- He said he was "totally against racism," but rebuffed the definition of white nationalism as racist.
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville refused to condemn white nationalism as inherently racist on Monday, saying the term is overused by Democrats in order to divide Americans.
On CNN's "The Source," Tuberville was asked to clarify comments he made in a May interview with NPR.
In that instance, Tuberville had been asked if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the US military, to which he responded: "Well, they call them that. I call them Americans."
Asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins about those remarks, the senator began by saying he is "totally against any type of racism," pointing to his years of working with ethnic minorities as a football coach at Alabama's Auburn University.
He then framed his argument around an objection to identity politics, saying the term "white nationalists" is just a "cover word" for racism, abused by the Democratic Party "to try to make people mad across the country."
Part of the exchange was posted on Twitter by journalist Aaron Rupar:
When asked again about white nationalists in the military, Tuberville said: "If people think that a white nationalist is a racist, I agree with that. I agree they shouldn't either."
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists white nationalism in its Extremist Files as a movement that holds "white supremacist or white separatist" ideologies.
Reminded of this definition, Tuberville said: "Well, that's some people's opinion."
Collins pushed Tuberville to acknowledge that white nationalism is fundamentally defined by racism, saying: "It's a real definition, there's real concerns about extremism."
But Tuberville seemed to suggest that most white people in the US are white nationalists. "So if you're going to do away with most white people in this country out of the military we've got huge problems," he said.
Attempting to correct this, Collins said: "It's not people who are white. It's white nationalists. You see the distinction, right?"
Tuberville then suggested that white nationalists have "a few probably different beliefs … now, if racism is one of those beliefs, I'm totally against it."
"But a white nationalist is racist, senator," Collins said.
"Well, that's your opinion. That's your opinion," said Tuberville. "But if it's racism, I'm totally against it."