“God Sent Us Donald Trump,” GOP Senate Candidate Tommy Tuberville Says

Tommy Tuberville/YouTube

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Sen. Doug Jones (Ala.), one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection this year, faces a difficult impeachment vote as he tries to retain his seat in a state Trump won by 28 points. On Tuesday, Jones said he had “tentatively” made a decision on how he would vote, though he didn’t say what that decision was.

One of Jones’ potential Republican opponents is having a much easier time making up his mind on Trump. In a new TV ad, former Auburn football head coach Tommy Tuberville describes himself as a no-nonsense Christian conservative who believes that “God sent us Donald Trump because God knew we were in trouble.” It’s a sentiment that Tuberville has expressed before, on an Alabama radio show. 

Jones will face a difficult test following the contentious Republican primary, which also includes religious extremist Roy Moore—who lost his 2017 bid for the seat amid sexual misconduct allegations (Moore denied the accusations)—and former Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who held Jones’ seat for two decades. One December poll, by JMC Analytics and Polling, found that Tuberville leads Jones by 7 points. Another December poll—which Trump tweeted out in late January with the words “I LOVE ALABAMA!”—showed that Sessions with a narrow lead over Tuberville in the GOP primary.

In the ad, Tuberville promises to support Trump’s efforts to build a wall on the southern border. He’s previously taken that nativist rhetoric even further, promising to “fight against the invasion of illegal aliens into our country.”

“I’m not looking for a career,” Tuberville says in the ad, just before it cuts to footage of him carrying a gun and wearing hunting gear. “I’m looking to save this country with Donald J. Trump.” But from who?

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate