GOP senator holding up military promotions claims Ukraine ‘can’t win’ in war with Russia

Tommy Tuberville says ‘it’s a junior high team playing a college team’

The Republican senator blocking hundreds of military leadership promotions and nominations has told Fox News that Ukraine cannot win in a war against Russia.

Sen Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who pointed to a poll from CNN showing that a majority of Americans oppose sending aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“We’re not getting the point in Washington DC,” Mr Tuberville said. “I haven’t voted for a dime to send Ukraine. I’m for Ukraine. Russia should have never done this.”

Mr Tuberville added he was in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelensky before the war and said the country was already fighting against Russia. A former coach for Texas Tech University, the University of Cincinnati and Auburn University prior to his time in the Senate, Mr Tuberville used a football metaphor.

“But at the end of the day, it’s a junior high team playing a college team,” he said. “They can’t win. We can throw all the money we want to, but unless we send NATO and our troops over, which we’re not going to do if I’ve got anything to do with it, then there’s no chance.”

Mr Tuberville is currently blocking military leadership positions from being filled due to his opposition to a policy from the Pentagon that pays for service members to travel to states where abortion is more accessible if they are in a state where abortion is restricted. The block has led to more than 250 positions being vacant in the US military.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a memo last week laying out how the vacancies made the US vulnerable, according to The Alabama Political Reporter.

“This unprecedented, across-the-board hold is having a cascading effect, increasingly hindering the normal operations of this Department and undermining both our military readiness and our national security,” Mr Austin wrote. “Our Service members and their families do not control where they are stationed, and due to the nature of military service, are frequently required to travel or move to meet operational requirements.”

Mr Tuberville’s blockade meant that when Gen David Berger retired last month, the US Marine Corps had no official commandant.