WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and his colleague U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) joined Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss President Trump’s cabinet picks. Sen. Tuberville believes that President Trump’s landslide election victory was a mandate and the Senate should move quickly to confirm his cabinet nominees.
Excerpts from Senator Tuberville’s interview can be found below, and his full interview can be viewed on YouTube or Rumble.
ON HOWARD LUTNICK AS COMMERCE SECRETARY:
KUDLOW: “Senator Tuberville, Howard Lutnick—I think he’s gonna be a bulldog for America at the Commerce Department. What do you think, sir?”
TUBERVILLE: “No doubt, Larry. I had a chance to meet with Howard a couple weeks ago in New York [to] give him my input on a few of the cabinet nominees. But he’s done a yeoman’s job. He’s worked very close to President Trump. This has gotta be an almost impossible job of putting this many people together at one time because we need to hit the ground running in the very near future. But he’s not just a great business person, Larry, he is a great American. He believes in this country, and that’s who we need working with President Trump. Somebody that’s gonna believe in America First and hit the ground running. He’ll do a great job in the Commerce Department.”
ON THE NEED TO REAUTHORIZE THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT:
KUDLOW: “You know, Senator Tuberville, I think you gotta rough up the CBO and the joint tax committee. Now, I’m saying that in a metaphorical sense, of course I am. […] I don’t wanna spend all night on this point, but somebody’s gotta push that crowd around because they’re always wrong, and they might just sabotage the Trump tax cuts. They’ve tried before, Senator Tuberville.”
TUBERVILLE: “[…] We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We know what works. We know what doesn’t work. […] We need to get regulations out of the way. We need to get the tax reform done, and as Eric said, do it permanently. We need to help the American people put money back in their pocket.”
ON MATT GAETZ FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL AND PETE HEGSETH FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE:
KUDLOW: “I’m worried about Matt Gaetz [getting confirmed]. And I’m worried about Pete Hegseth [getting confirmed]. […] I know there’ll be opposition. I get that. But I’m worried particularly about Gaetz. […] I don’t think a lot of people in the Senate want Matt Gaetz just because he’s a tough-minded conservative who’s gonna protect Donald Trump from any kind of nonsensical lawfare and weaponization. You know, ‘Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia,’ and all that garbage. What do you think about that? What kind of shape is the Gaetz thing in? And what to do about it, if anything?”
TUBERVILLE: “Well, first of all, no matter who President Trump picks, the media is gonna hammer them every day. You know, we’ve all been around [long enough], Larry. It doesn’t make any difference. If you’re a Republican, you gotta fight your way through all this. If you remember Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh—we’re gonna look at facts, not rumors. There’s rumors up here going around about Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth—and all of [Trump’s nominees] will have some kind of rumor when it comes down to it. But we’ve gotta look at facts. We’ve gotta help President Trump. He’s not gonna pick somebody that’s a criminal. He’s not gonna do that. He’s gonna vet everybody—he’s done that. I’m looking forward to working with all of them. I’m looking forward to backing all of them as long as the facts are there.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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