Doug Jones
Role at the time: Democratic nominee for Alabama governor and former U.S. senator, speaking at a news conference
Statement summary
Asked at a news conference to respond to Sen. Tommy Tuberville's Senate floor speech, which AL.com reported included the remarks about furries and airline pilots, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones said "My only comment is that was the strangest speech on the floor of the United States Senate that I have ever heard" and "It was absolutely unbecoming of a United States Senator".
“My only comment is that was the strangest speech on the floor of the United States Senate that I have ever heard … It was absolutely unbecoming of a United States Senator”
AL.com's report of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones's response, at a Wednesday news conference, to Senator Tuberville's September 22 floor speech, which included the remarks about airline workers and the furry community. Jones and Tuberville face each other in the November 3 general election.
Why we used this label
The reference point is Tuberville's claim that many airline pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers are furries and a flight-safety risk. Jones does not address the aviation claim separately but responds to the speech that contains it, calling it "unbecoming of a United States Senator", which criticizes Tuberville's making the remarks; no milder label fits.