Senator Tommy Tuberville proved the allegations that Donald Trump’s cabinet functions as a mouthpiece are true during a social media blunder which left people wondering if he could tell the difference between a Russian or Republican-led U.S.
Tuberville got community noted to hell and back on a Nov. 25, 2024, X post that wrongly claimed 211 billion U.S. tax dollars had been sent to aid Ukraine in the nation’s war against an invading Russia. Readers quickly added context: that figure is the amount Russia had spent on the conflict as of Feb. 2024, not the U.S. But in a Trump administration, who can differentiate between Russian and American interests?
Republicans Against Trump, a group whose name speaks for itself, called him the “dumbest member of the Senate.” Others read between the lines and saw that, regardless of Tuberville’s number fumble, Trump’s underlings follow the president-elect’s desire to pull out of geopolitical conflicts to save money. “These people want Russia to win so badly. Totally unpatriotic,” said one X user.
A past error was also dredged up. In a Nov. 2020 interview with The Alabama Daily News following his senate race victory, Tuberville failed to correctly identify the three branches of government — one of the simplest FAQs a politician is expected to know the answer to.
“Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way,” Tuberville said. “You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.” The three branches of the federal government are the legislative (vested in Congress, which is made up of both the House of Representatives and the Senate), the executive (vested in the President of the United States), and the judicial (led by the Supreme Court).
USA Today also reported another misstep in the same interview. When asked what he took away from President Joe Biden’s election victory, he also mischaracterized World War II in a bid to claim democrats were aligned with socialism.
“That’s concerning to me, that we’re to the point now where we’ve got almost half the country voting for something that this country wasn’t built on,” he stated, “I tell people, my dad fought 76 years ago in Europe to free Europe of socialism.”
Firstly, neither Biden nor the Democratic Party establishment at large are socialist, even if some members lean towards policies with socialist ideals or personally identify with it. “Biden has not advocated nationalizing industries, a key principle of socialism. His platform on health care, energy, and other issues aligns with moderate Democrats, not socialists,” reported a PolitiFact fact check on socialism claims.
Secondly, the Allied Forces battled against fascism, not socialism. Furthermore, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was part of the war against Hitler. So, the U.S. army did not “save Europe from socialism.” America’s main character savior complex strikes again.
Circling back to Tuberville’s Ukraine spending mistake, one person argued, “Fun fact: the U.S. spending on aid to Ukraine is 0.78% of the annual budget. The U.S. GDP is approx. equal to all of Europe’s GDP, so it makes sense that the U.S. would contribute the same amount of aid as all of Europe. This is about worldwide democracy vs. authoritarianism.”
According to Ukraine Oversight‘s report on 2022 to 2024 funding sources, “As of September 30, 2024, the U.S. Ukraine response funding totals nearly $183 billion, with $130.1 billion obligated and $86.7 billion disbursed.” We can’t expect Tuberville to deal in facts though, after all, he’s part of an institution that routinely denies their existence, leading with emotive accusations and extremism instead.
Published: Nov 28, 2024 08:50 am