MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is under fire after comments made during a Donald Trump sponsored rally on October 8. The remarks were called “extremely racist and divisive” by Alabama’s House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels.

Tuberville’s comments at the rally were aimed toward Democrats, saying in part: “They’re not soft on crime. They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

The controversial comments have drawn several responses from members of the Democratic party, including Alabama’s House Minority Leader, Rep. Anthony Daniels.

“If Sen. Tuberville truly believes what he said about reparations, it’s time for him to be put into
concussion protocol and taken off the playing field. No one in their right mind could make such
an insane statement about an issue that means so much to so many,” Rep. Daniels said in a statement. “As a former coach, he more than most should understand the importance of fighting for a level playing field. We will continue our march until we get there. Simply put, racism has no place in our state and it will not be tolerated.”

The NAACP released a statement Monday addressing the matter, with President Derrick Johnson calling Tuberville’s remarks “flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening.”

“His words promote a centuries-old lie about Black people that throughout history have resulted in the most dangerous policies and violent attacks on our community,” Johnson wrote, “We’ve seen this before from the far-right, and we’ve seen what they can do when they take power. Next time the Senator wants to talk about crime, he should talk about Donald Trump’s hate-fueled rally on January 6, 2021, and the attacks that followed. Perhaps the real criminals are in his orbit.”

Senator Tuberville has not yet publicly responded to the backlash.