MADISON – Up until now, we knew former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville was a supporter of President Donald Trump. However, we had not heard many particulars when it came to why he supports the current commander-in-chief.
During a wide-ranging and at times impassioned address to the Tennessee Valley Republican Club on Saturday, Tuberville took on the immigration issue — one central to Trump’s 2016 presidential run.
In what at times resembled a locker room speech, the coach-turned-politician painted a grave picture of the current immigration situation.
“I love this country, and folks – we are losing,” he said to the group gathered at Earth and Stone Wood Fired Pizza just west of Huntsville. “We are losing the battle daily. We’re just steadily getting chipped away, and we got to stop it. If we don’t, we’re losing. Thank God – and I thank God every day that he sent us Donald Trump. He’s an outsider. He loves this country. He doesn’t need their money. He’s not a politician. He’s not going to listen to them.”
Tuberville explained why he backed Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on Mexico over its lackadaisical effort to secure its borders, which some say has contributed to the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. However, he also warned it was not just migration from Latin America, but other parts of the globe.
“I’m 100% free trade, but sooner or later he’s got to have something to close that border – something,” Tuberville said. “I coached in Texas four years. I’ve been on the border at least 12 times. I’ve got buddies that work on the Border Patrol. I’ve got buddies that travel with me at the border one week every two months, and they’re Texas Rangers.”
“Eight years ago, they told me we got more Middle Easterners coming across the border than we do Mexicans,” he continued. “This was before the caravans started coming. I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said they’re coming all over the Middle East. They’re coming across the border and they ain’t leaving. They’re coming for a reason. Folks, they’re taking over, and if we don’t open our eyes, it is going to be over with.”
He went on to explain how the problem had spread throughout the United States and how it could eventually mean the end of the country.
“They are all over this country,” Tuberville said. “We had better wake up … there’s going to be something that happens in this country that we ain’t very proud of because it’s coming. They’re trying to take over. President Trump is trying to close the border. Hey, I’m all for immigration. I’ve got buddies that need people who will work, and they will work. But, we [have] to know who is here. If we don’t know who is here, we’re not going to be a country any longer. And it’s going to be over with – nah, we’re not talking about 15-20 years. We’re talking about in our lifetime, and that is what scares me. It is very, very scary.”
The Republican U.S. Senate hopeful also took aim at incumbent U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook), who he would likely face if he won the GOP nomination. Tuberville expressed his displeasure over Jones’ representation on Capitol Hill.
“What are we doing?” he said. “The Democrats will not let us change the policy for immigration. We all know why. They want votes. They could not care less about this country, and we got one from Alabama up there voting against us. Everything that we want, and we need in this country, we send a Democrat up there to do that. And that’s why I’m running. It pisses me off. It really does – to know we sent a guy up there that is going to vote with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Are you kidding me?”
“I sat there and watched that Brett Kavanaugh deal, and I didn’t watch Brett Kavanaugh. You know who I watched? His wife, behind him. She cried the whole dang time because they raked him over the coals because they don’t want him because they know he’ll vote the right way – we hope. And we sent [Jones] up there.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
