On Monday, a national news outlet shared a truncated clip from a 2019 speech by Tommy Tuberville that makes it seem like the U.S. Senate candidate and former Auburn University head football coach blamed President Donald Trump for illegal aliens receiving free government handouts.
The speech in question was first reported on by Yellowhammer News way back in August. National outlets at the time jumped on Tuberville’s comments, because he did indeed ding Trump for what Tuberville viewed as a lack of progress when it comes to the state of veterans’ healthcare in the United States.
However, a reporter from Breitbart News on Monday posted an isolated audio clip from that speech, alleging that Tuberville was focusing his criticism of the president on immigration. The headline read, “Tommy Tuberville in Unearthed Remarks: ‘We’re Paying for Illegals to Come Over Here … That’s Donald Trump’s Fault.’” The article also claimed that the remarks were “previously not reported on.”
Here’s the full part of Tuberville’s speech in question:
I’m pissed off at Donald Trump that our vets can’t get health care. And if I ever get to see him, I’m going to tell him that. You said you were going to fix it and it ain’t fixed. And that’s who we ought to be taking care of — these young men and women. I’ve had them come up to me and cry. ‘Coach, we can’t get health care. Nobody will take care of us.’ 22 vets every day – every day are committing suicide. We can’t take care of them. We won’t take care of them. We’re paying for illegals to come over here – everything they’re getting: cell phones, health care, everything they want. That’s Donald Trump’s fault. That’s his fault. He’s got to get it done. That’s one of the most important things I think we need to do because we send young men and women over to fight for us, put their life on the line and we don’t take care of them? What are we doing? What are we doing?
I’m a Donald Trump guy, but there are things that he hasn’t done yet that we got to get done. And I think he’s had to fight every battle by himself. He can’t get to all of them because nobody is helping him. Nobody is standing up for him.
And here’s the audio snippet from that speech released on Monday:
This same reporter has hit Tuberville on the immigration issue in the past, and the latest article comes on the heels of Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-01), one of Tuberville’s GOP opponents, releasing a television ad accusing the former coach of supporting “amnesty.” Tuberville contends that his comments referenced in the Byrne ad were focused on legal immigration, rather than amnesty for illegal aliens. Tuberville has forcefully denied being for amnesty.
Reacting to the latest Breitbart piece on Monday, Tuberville commented in a statement to Yellowhammer News, “The Tuberville plan to fight illegal immigration mirrors everything Donald Trump has said on the issue. We’ve got to close our borders, protect American jobs, stop illegal drugs, and block terrorists from sneaking into our country.”
“The Trump administration believes we must prioritize skilled workers who apply to come here legally so they can do the jobs that Americans just don’t want to do,” he continued. “I’m simply backing President Trump’s policy…just like I’ll do in Washington.”
The primary will be held March 3, just 15 days away. Tuberville and Byrne are likely competing among each other and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for two runoff spots for the GOP nomination to face U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) in November.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
