Tommy Tuberville is happy Biden called him 'a good football coach' as he faces criticism for holding up military promotions and refusing to condemn white nationalists

• Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said he's just happy Biden is praising his coaching record.
• Biden has criticized Tuberville for blocking military promotions.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said on Wednesday that he was just happy a President of the United States called him a good coach, despite the fact that he's facing criticism over failing to condemn white nationalism and holding up military promotions.

"It's been good," Tuberville told HuffPost's Igor Bobic when asked about his week. " I'd never dreamed in my wildest dreams to have the president of the United States call me a good football coach — but a bad senator."

The Alabama Republican's latest comments came after a Politico report detailed how President Joe Biden is increasingly attacking the junior senator. Biden has referred to Tuberville as "the former football coach from Alabama, who was a better coach than he's a senator."

In response, Tuberville fired back that Biden was like a dictator. He said that Biden "was a better senator than a president."

There is room for praise for Tuberville's coaching record.

He has an overall 159-99 record at major schools, a Sugar Bowl win, and an SEC Title. He won multiple coach of the year awards following Auburn's undefeated 2004 season, but the Tigers were left out of the 2004 BCS National Championship Game. Tuberville never equaled his early success following his resignation from Auburn after the 2008 season. He rather infamously reportedly ditched Texas Tech recruits during a 2012 dinner to take a job at Cincinnati. Tuberville later told a fan that heckled him to "get a job" following Cincinnati's 2016 loss to BYU. That year would be the future senator's final year in college coaching.

Tuberville has sustained a virtual all-out blitz this week in response to his comments.

After refusing to explicitly say white nationalists are racists, the Alabama Republican was forced to backtrack in the face of criticism. But he has not retreated from stalling top promotions at the Pentagon, even as it leaves the Marine Corps without a confirmed leader for the first time in a century.

"Well, that's some people's opinion," Tuberville told CNN on Monday when pressed about multiple instances where he had refused to explicitly condemn white nationalism. "

He also said, "My opinion of a white nationalist, if someone wants to call them white nationalist, to me is an American."

On Tuesday, Tuberville walked back his comments by saying "If people think a white nationalist is a racist, I agree with that."

Tuberville has been unrepentant about blocking military promotions over his objection to the Pentagon's abortion leave policy, even as the fallout threatens to ripple across America's armed forces. Biden and the White House have taken particular issue with Tuberville's refusal to back down.