'Brutal': Ex-Dem senator pinpoints the 'moment that Tuberville fell apart'

'Brutal': Ex-Dem senator pinpoints the 'moment that Tuberville fell apart'
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama prior to appearing the Senate Armed Services Committee during the Department of Defense budget posture in review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022. Austin was joined by Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Michael McCord and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley answer questions from committee. (DoD Photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
Maya Boddie
December 05, 2023 | 06:53PM ETBank

After fueling an almost ten-month blockade on over 450 military promotions, US Senator Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) finally cracked under pressure Tuesday, telling NBC News, "I'm releasing everybody. I still got a hold on, I think, 11 four-star generals. Everybody else is completely released from me."

MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace asked the former US Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) whether she thinks "it was public pressure or if there was a line of communication from the military" that forced Tuberville to change his mind. "How do you think this came to be today?" she asked.

McCaskill replied, "Well, first of all, I need to give a shoutout to my dear friend [Senator] Chuck Schumer (D-NY). He was getting a lot of criticism for not giving Tuberville the floor time to overcome this hold. But he didn't want to encourage this behavior in the future. He didn't want to have to soak up the amount of time, and everybody says 'Oh they can stay all night — they can stay all day.' Well, that punishes all the members of the Senate who have obligations in their home states. So, Schumer I think did the right thing because you know what he did? He waited until the Republicans turned on him. And it was at that moment that Tuberville fell apart. When his own colleagues took him to task. I mean, [US Senator Thom] Tillis (R-NC) was brutal. [US Senator] Joni Ernst (R-IA) was brutal."

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Wallace said, "I think it was excruciating it got to what it got to. That someone doing two jobs had a heart attack."

The ex-Democratic lawmaker agreed, saying, "Exactly, yeah. So what really occurred here was I think Schumer used a lot of good sense the way he handled this. It went on too long. They did get some through. But, you know, Schumer doesn't get enough credit for doing some of the hard work behind the scenes I think he deserves."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Schumer did the right thing': Ex-Dem senator pinpoints the 'moment that Tuberville fell apart'youtu.be

READ MORE: 'No regrets': Tuberville to continue blocking 4-star generals while releasing hold on other officers

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