Tommy Tuberville is Refusing to Debate Jeff Sessions in Alabama Senate Runoff

As the Republican primary runoff for nomination for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, football coach Tommy Tuberville is doubling down on a strategy of refusing to debate former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, leaving serious questions about his immigration policy positions unanswered.

Tuberville hopes to cruise to an easy victory on the basis of support from Donald Trump, who remains incensed at Sessions over a feud related to his former Attorney General’s recusal from Robert Mueller’s witch hunt Russia investigation. But Sessions has emphasized that the feud- now in the past- can’t be all that comes under consideration for Alabama’s Republican voters.

Tuberville steadfastly refuses to clarify some of his troubling statements related to immigration policy, including stating that the United States needs 400,000 Indian visa workers to provide labor for America’s corporations. Tuberville continues to rebuff attempts from Sessions to organize a debate to discuss actual policy before the July 14th runoff election, which will determine who will go on to face Democrat Doug Jones in November.

Sessions reiterated that Tuberville refuses to participate in a debate in a tweet responding to President Trump’s latest criticism of him, pointing out that Tuberville’s GOPe sympathies render him a suspect so-called supporter of the President’s ‘MAGA’ agenda.

In yet another demonstration of stark anachronism with Republican voters of today, Tuberville has even said that “we can’t worry about China” in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

In stark contrast with Tuberville, Jeff Sessions has what is almost certainly the strongest conservative track record on immigration policy of any former Senator or congressman. He’s almost single-handedly derailed several amnesty attempts, and most recently led the charge in calling for a federal immigration moratorium in response to the coronavirus recession that President Trump has partially implemented.

What does Tuberville, a political novice who frames himself as a great ally of President Trump, have to fear from a debate?

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