Trump ally Tuberville isn’t kidding when he says US pilots are in a ‘club’ of furry fetishists

Trump ally Tuberville isn’t kidding when he says US pilots are in a ‘club’ of furry fetishists Social media users pounce on the Alabama Republican’s claims and say the audio of pilots meowing and barking he cited is in fact a ‘longstanding aviation joke/meme’ - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in MAGA Sen. Tommy Tuberville is pushing hard on claims that the U.S. airline industry is full of “furries” — as social media users say he's barking up the wrong tree. The Republican lawmaker, a die-hard Trump loyalist who's running for governor of Alabama, took to the Senate floor to warn that “many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers are part of the furry community.” “Lord help us. It's terrifying when you think about this,” he said Tuesday. “When you walk onto a commercial flight, it's possible that the pilot flying your plane could have a deranged fetish of dressing up like an animal. You can't make this up.” “Furries” are members of a subculture that revolves around anthropomorphic animals, with many fans adopting alter egos known as “fursonas” and wearing elaborate costumes called “fursuits,” according to the International Anthropomorphic Research Project’s Furscience website. Tuberville repeated his assertions Thursday, referencing a recent furry convention in Minneapolis after a TMZ reporter asked him about his comments. “They had a pilots section at their convention this past week in Minnesota, so you got to call it what it is,” he said. “They have a club. They have an organization, and all you got to do is follow the information.” Tuberville also said, “We got a huge mental illness problem in this country, and we need to address it. We need to address it quick.” Also Thursday, the former college football coach posted a clip on X of an NBC News report about two pilots meowing and barking at each other via radio at Reagan National Airport in April. That led the social media platform to attach a “community note” from other users that says, “The audio of pilots meowing and barking at DCA was a longstanding aviation joke/meme...unrelated to furries or any subculture.” Tuberville's Democratic rival in the Alabama governor's race, former Sen. Doug Jones, called Tuberville's Senate remarks the “strangest” he'd ever heard “on the floor of the United States Senate.” “It was absolutely unbecoming of a United States senator,” Jones said Wednesday, according to AL.com. Tuberville's comments came as he delivered a 20-minute speech while standing next to a sign that said “Transgenderism is a Mental Illness.” Tris Wilson, an organizer for the Alabama Transgender Rights Action Coalition, said Tuberville's speech revealed his “desperation to keep the narrative focused on culture war issues, instead of trying to solve the real problems Alabamians are facing.” “Tuberville may not like the word ‘transgender,’ but science and medicine affirm the existence of a spectrum of gender that includes cisgender and transgender people alike,” Wilson told AL.com. Tuberville also sparked controversy earlier this year with a social media post that said, “The enemy is inside the gates,” above a reposted image that shows a photo of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who’s Muslim, next to one of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center’s twin towers. Leading Democrats denounced Tuberville, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom writing, “Tommy Tuberville proves to the world that a football hitting your head can turn you into a racist piece of s***.” Tuberville, who won his Senate seat by defeating Jones in 2020, is expected to easily succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Kay Ivey in ruby-red Alabama, with the Cook Political Report rating the race as “solid” in favor of the GOP. It also calls Jones’ campaign a “longshot bid” by “quite possibly the only Alabama Democrat with a prayer of competing statewide.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments