Friday afternoon, Doug Jones was interviewed by University of Alabama law professor Joyce Vance on her Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance Substack page. In the brief interview, he attacked state lawmakers and promoted a wild conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump would "steal" elections while insisting that he can win the Alabama governor race against U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn).
The conversation began with Vance asserting the “Trump administration is really just retaliating against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for having had the temerity to be the Democratic candidate for the vice presidency,” saying United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is “invading” Minnesota. She asked why Jones would run for governor.
"This democracy is faltering right now, and people are hurting out there, and what is going on is just unbelievable," Jones explained after highlighting his prior public service.
Vance pointed to Gov. Gavin Newsom in California and Gov. Andy Beshear in Kentucky as governors “who are stepping up and doing the right thing,” asking Jones what he would do if elected.”
“So it seems to me that the governors and attorney generals are on the front lines to try to just save this democracy," Jones said before criticizing federal law enforcement, specifically ICE and the way that governors can use their "bully pulpit" to address what's happening federally.
"You can point out the good things that an administration may be be doing to help your state, but you can also point out the tragedies, the travesties, the threats to the state's sovereignty. And that's a big deal in a state like Alabama. We have reluctance anyway with the federal government. Nobody wants to see their fellow citizens yanked out of daycares and cars, you know, and things like that. People want secure borders, but they want to see people treated humanely," Jones said.
“We're in the middle, we're right here in the heart of the Bible Belt. You don't see people treating each other the way ICE agents are treating it's not just those that are undocumented, but citizens, people that are here legally. ICE has just gone too far in this," he added.
The pair spoke briefly about Alabama’s own immigration law HB 56, which Vance called a “horrible anti-immigrant bill.” Vance then asked Jones, “How do you get those people [the voters] to listen to the kind of sense that you talk?”
“Well, you know, first and foremost, Joyce, I don't think that that was a people-run campaign. You had the legislature. Remember, in a state like Alabama, everything and all power is so focused on the legislature, and the lobbyists that are down there, and they pander to the base’s instinct because we're so damn gerrymandered in this state that folks have to appeal to only a sliver of the electorate in their particular district, and so they pander like hell to them,” Jones responded.
Vance then pivoted to Jones’ defeat of Roy Moore, bizarrely describing Moore as “this crazy, you know, child-oriented. I'll just use that word, somebody who had a taste for young women,” before getting to the point, “How does a Democrat win in a state like Alabama?”
Jones pointed to the fact that he got 920,000 votes when he was elected to the U.S. Senate in the special election.
“Which is more than any Democrat in history has gotten; it would have been more than enough to win any gubernatorial election. And we're expecting, you know, you know, a good turnout this time, probably more than it's ever been, but still less than those presidential elections,” he explained.
“So, we're going after those 920,000 folks, and we're going to add to it. We're going to be working on a really local level to try to identify folks that are friends, to leave the ones that we know we're not going to vote for us alone, focus on the persuadables, and we've got an awful lot of people in Alabama that just don't vote or either they vote rarely. And I think that overwhelmingly most of those votes are folks that would be very amenable, persuadable to vote for Doug Jones and really the entire Democratic ticket.”
“We've identified a lot of those working with Anthony Daniels and our legislature. So you can put together this coalition. It is going to be an uphill battle.”
Vance used this opportunity to spread misinformation about voter access in Alabama.
“Are you worried about what is a clear trajectory by the [Trump] administration to make it more difficult for Democrats to vote in this election?” Vance asked.
“I worry about it in Alabama, but I also worry about it in the swing districts around the country where we know it's going to be close races for Congress,” Jones answered
“I think that this administration, unfortunately, is setting the stage for things that we've never seen before, whether it is National Guard or ICE or others patrolling ballot boxes where they know there's likely high turnout of Democratic votes.”
“I wouldn't be surprised at all with what this administration may try to do to maintain their power base. And if that means taking, stealing, or whatever the elections, I think they'll do it. I think they're going to try to do it because the president knows that he is about to lose grip when it comes to the elections. And we're worried about it.”
Jones went on to lament Alabama’s laws to secure elections.
“Alabama's tough anyway, because there are so, you know, it's hard to vote absentee. It's difficult to vote early. You have to do an early absentee vote in person. It's crazy the way we do things,” Jones explained.
“We've got to play the hand we're dealt. We can't change it. We've got to play the hand we're dealt and get people both concerned and aware.”
The conversation then evolved into voter turnout.
"We need to get people out to events, we need to get people talking in their communities and get them engaged about this political process and vote like their lives, depend on it, cause in some cases, it might," Jones said after describing the ways his team is working to get out the vote.
"The one thing you'll see with me, Joyce, more than you've seen in the last 10 or 15 years is you'll see a governor out in the community is not going to be sitting behind some big ass desk in Montgomery, Alabama, you know, you know, having pictures made all the time. I'm going to be out there," Jones said.
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