Sen. Tuberville Slammed by GOP Colleague for ‘Remarkable’ Attack on Fellow Republicans

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)/(Screenshot)

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was called out for his attacks on fellow Republicans on Monday in a scathing email sent by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to his GOP colleagues.

The Senate passed $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding on Friday, with all Republicans but Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voting for the bill. The process saw several potential amendments to the bill shot down, including proposed provisions to block President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund.”

One of those rejected amendments was put forward by Tillis, who expressed his anger over the move in an email on Monday, claiming he could not understand how a supermajority could vote against it. That, however, was not his biggest issue with the Senate’s Friday vote.

“But the real problem I have is that the President (and a few of our members?) forced us to take two more unsuccessful votes for the SAVE Act at the expense of our most vulnerable members in cycle,” wrote Tillis.

The SAVE Act, legislation tightening voter ID laws, has been a favorite of the president for months, with Trump urging lawmakers to remove the filibuster in order to get the act through Congress. Tillis excoriated Tuberville and other senators for calling out Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in “a circular firing squad,” claiming it would only help her presumptive challenger Graham Platner (D) in the upcoming midterm elections.

He wrote:

Even worse, Tommy Tuberville and others initiated a circular firing squad calling out Susan Collins and other republicans by name. Amazing: Members NOT in cycle attacking our most at-risk member because she supports the view of 65% of the voters in her state.

Tommy Tuberville said: “It was beyond EMBARRASSING that “Republicans” continue to block the SAVE America Act @SenThomTillis, @LisaMurkowski, @SenMcConnell, and @SenatorCollins have not only betrayed their constituents – they are ACCOMPLICES in Democrats’ “Illegals First” agenda. The people of North Carolina, Alaska, Kentucky, and Maine deserve better.”

I find this remarkable on several levels, but you would think a member of Tommy’s comms team who has a spouse working on the NRSC’s leadership team could see how this is only helpful to Susan’s opponent. Do these people talk? Other members have referred to those who oppose nuking the filibuster and passing the SAVE Act as “traitors” and “defectors” on social media.

Everyone knew the SAVE Act votes would fail, yet we went ahead anyway because the President requested them at the expense of our members. This simply prompted more attacks on our own, which I assume was the President’s goal.

The senator went on to claim that he understood that Tuberville, currently running for governor of his state, might get a boost from attacking Collins, but asked if it was worth calling her an “embarrassing accomplice who betrayed her constituents?”

He claimed the vote was a “net loss” for those running for reelection, before signing off with a warning.

“The road to holding our majority is already difficult,” he wrote. “We cannot afford any more unforced errors like this between now and November.”

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