Neal Embry
Bradley Byrne, speaking, is seeking to replace Doug Jones as Alabama’s junior senator.
On Saturday, current U.S. representative and U.S. Senate hopeful Bradley Byrne made his pitch to replace Doug Jones as Alabama’s junior senator, questioning the incumbent’s values and positioning himself as an ally to President Donald Trump.
Byrne, from the Mobile area, is one of several candidates gunning for the Republican nomination to challenge Jones, a Democrat, in next year’s election. Byrne began his speech to the Mid-Alabama Republican Club at the Vestavia Hills library by telling the crowd Jones doesn’t represent “Alabama values.”
“We need a United States senator that’s going to wake up everyday in the [Senate] and say, ‘I represent Alabama. My job is to represent the people of Alabama,’” Byrne said. “And he [Jones] is not doing that.
Byrne questioned Jones’ vote against confirming Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who, at the time of his nomination, faced accusations of past sexual misconduct. Byrne also called into question Jones’ vote on abortion, specifically his vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have essentially banned abortion after 20 weeks. Jones voted against the measure.
“It is time for us to get somebody who represents our state,” Byrne said.
Byrne told the crowd that current Democrats, or “socialists,” as he said they call themselves, “believe the government is better at running your life than you are.”
Byrne accused Democrats of wanting to eliminate all private health insurance; however, out of the roughly 20 Democratic candidates for president, only Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Bill De Blasio have stated they are in favor of eliminating private health care in its entirety, though many favor a Medicare for All option.
Positioning himself as an ally of President Donald Trump, Byrne spent time admonishing Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as the latter’s proposed “Green New Deal.”
“They [Democrats] want to take a strength of America, which is that we are now energy-independent, take that away from us, and then put ourselves back in a weakened position when it comes to energy, because they don’t want us to be able to use that asset,” Byrne said. “[It’s a] fundamental difference in values.
“This is not just a fight over policy,” Byrne said. “This is a fight over what America is going to be going forward. It’s a fight over whether we are going to continue to be a country that’s been based on the values that are implicit, not just implicit, but explicit in our Constitution … or are we going to go off on some far-left manifesto?”
Byrne mocked the national news media, accusing them of not giving Trump a “fair shake,” and told the crowd Republicans need to get behind Trump early in the 2020 presidential election.
Byrne praised Trump, saying that America’s enemies “fear us again,” and that Republicans have the right values and are headed in the right direction.
Byrne told the crowd they needed someone who is a “sixth-generation Alabamian,” not someone who “just woke up here.” Jones was born in Alabama and worked as a federal prosecutor here for several years.
In a crowded Republican field, Byrne said he knew he’d have to earn the people’s vote.
“So give me the opportunity over the next several months, and I guarantee you, I will earn your vote or I absolutely will bust a gut trying to do it,” Byrne said.
