Lawmakers react to Sen. Tuberville’s ‘pro-crime’ accusation at Nevada rally

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., accused Democrats of intentionally encouraging crime as a way of extorting reparation payments during a racially-charged statement delivered at a political rally in Nevada over the weekend.

Tuberville, speaking at a Saturday rally for Nevada’s GOP Senate candidate, Adam Laxalt, made the following statement:

“The Democratic Party, they have a majority. They could stop this crime today. They say, some people say ‘Well, they’re soft on crime.’ No, they’re not soft on crime; they’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want 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. *EXPLETIVE* They are not owed that.”

Doug Jones, a Democrat unseated by Tuberville in 2020, reacted to Tuberville’s speech on Twitter, saying more Democrats should be calling him out on the statement.

“It’s not hard to connect the dots between a rally in which he’s talking about Democrats wanting to pay reparations to criminals, and basically the broad brush that he’s painting the Black community that they’re just criminals. Folks, that kind of crap has got to stop,” Jones stated.

Former Alabama Democratic Party Chairman and current state Rep. Chris England also reacted, saying in a tweet that “There is some *EXPLETIVE* here but it isn’t what @TTuberville thinks it is. The *EXPLETIVE* is that this guy is a United States Senator in the first place.”

England is also calling on Tuberville to explain what he meant.

“I was disappointed to hear Senator Tuberville’s comments at this weekend’s MAGA rally,” Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Dist. 7, said. “His words were painfully reminiscent of the racist tropes that have been used to vilify African Americans for generations. There is no place for this kind of language in our state or our nation.”

Tuberville has not responded to requests for comment, nor has Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. However, the Alabama Republican Party has released a statement through its chairman.

“I did not watch the rally, so I don’t know the exact context of Senator Tuberville’s remarks,” said ALGOP Chairman John Wahl. “However, Coach Tuberville is well known for his work with people of all backgrounds, both on the field and off. His record and respect of others speaks volumes about his integrity and character.”

It should be noted that Laxalt has also used racist language on the 2022 campaign trail in which he’s promoted the ‘Great Replacement’ theory, which contends that non-white people are being brought in to the United States to replace white Americans by, as Laxalt believes, “the Left.”

The same racist conspiracy theory was promoted by a mass shooter who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in May.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to correct Sen. Tuberville quote to indicate he said “reparation,” not “reparations” as previously reported.

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