Tuberville defends post likening Mamdani to 9/11 attacks: 'I just go by his rhetoric'

By Fox News · Fox News

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Tuesday sought to defend his social media post comparing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rhetoric to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Tuberville shared a post last week that juxtaposed a photo of the terror attack on the Twin Towers with an image of Mamdani, who appeared to be hosting a Ramadan Iftar event at City Hall. An account called "End Wokeness" posted the images along with a message that read, "Less than 25 years apart." "The enemy is inside the gates," Tuberville said on X in response to the image. Asked to explain his post on the social platform X, Tuberville said, "I just go by his rhetoric." GOP SENATOR EARNS DEM BACKLASH FOR 'ENEMY IS INSIDE THE GATES' COMMENT ABOUT NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI "He’s made a lot of statements about his stance with Islam and radical Islam, all the things that go along with what he preaches every day. And I’m just kind of repeating what he’s saying," the senator told DC News Now’s Reshad Hudson. "We don’t need a division in this country. We need everybody to go with the Constitution, understand we have moral values. And if we all stick with those –– I don’t care if you’re Muslim or Catholic or Baptist, it makes no difference," he continued. He added, "We need to make the country better; we don’t need to divide it. That’s what he’s doing in New York." REPUBLICAN SAYS ‘MUSLIMS DON’T BELONG IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,’ DRAWS FIERCE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH When asked about whether Muslim Americans in Alabama may find his post offensive, Tuberville said he has "some great Muslim friends" and that he spoke to "two Iranians in Alabama this past week about the war. Obviously, they’re Muslim." "If you teach and preach Sharia law, if you bow down to the Quran, it teaches death to Americans. That don’t fly with me, okay?" he said, although the Quran makes no reference to the U.S. or Americans. The Alabama lawmaker and former college football coach reiterated that he does not care about a person's religi…