Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) struggled on Monday and Tuesday to properly say that white nationalists are racist, by definition. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

During an exchange with CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins Monday evening, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) argued that white nationalists being racist is an opinion.

The question posed to the senator was whether white nationalists should be serving in the U.S. military. Tuberville responded by saying his definition of a white nationalist is an American, but that he is 110% against racism.

Collins: A White nationalist is someone who believes that the white race is superior to other races.

Tuberville: Well, that some people’s opinion.

Collins: What’s your opinion?

Tuberville: My opinion of a white nationalist, if someone wants to call them a white nationalist, to me it’s an American. It’s an American. Now if that white nationalist is a racist, I’m totally against anything that they want to do because I am 110% against racism.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “white nationalist” as “one of a group of militant white people who espouse white supremacy … and advocate enforced racial segregation.” The dictionary then defines “white supremacist” as “the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races.” A white nationalist is, by definition, racist.

D.C. media approached Tuberville  Tuesday morning to ask him to expand on his comments, where the senator said that “Listen, I’m totally against racism, and if the Democrats want to say that white nationalists are racist than I’m against that too.” He ended discussion on the topic after a reporter challenged him by saying the definition of white nationalists are racists.

Finally, when asked by Wall Street Journal Congressional reporter Lindsay Wise to clarify again, he finally stated, “White nationalists are racist.”

Tuberville was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020 after spending 40 years as a college football coach, most notably as the head coach for the Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. Since his election, Tuberville has opposed same-sex marriage, opposed access to abortion rights and opposed investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.