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MONTGOMERY, Ala. - (Gambling911.com) - Alabama GOP candidate for governor and current sitting senator, Tommy Tuberville, warned this week it might not be safe to fly.
The recent Netflix documentary “Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing” be damned. That film hasn't stopped folks from flying commercially. Airlines are still routinely packing their flights.
But imagine if you will the horror for Alabama residents boarding a flight only to discover Smokey — a Bluetick Coonhound decked out in Tennessee Volunteers gear — sitting in the cockpit. Forget turbulence. That's when Crimson Tide fans start looking for the emergency exit.
A true aviation crisis indeed, at least that's what Tuberville is claiming.
Tuberville this week warned of ‘deranged’ furry culture potentially causing a flight risk.
The senator took to social media Thursday to blast furries, a community of people that often dress in anthropomorphic animal suits, doubling down on his widely mocked claims the practice is a danger to the airline industry.
Tuberville said in a post there is “an ALARMING number of these DERANGED people working in our airline industry,” referring to furries.
The senator did not provide any backing or data for his claims, instead sharing an NBC News clip of a radio recording from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in which two pilots can be heard meowing and barking at each other.
In an update from Gambling911.com, we confirmed with a pilot friend of ours that the "meows" are real but they've been part of an inside joke among airline pilots for years and has nothing to do with being a furry.
Tuberville remained a solid -1500 favorite to win the Alabama governor's race at BetOnline, though his Democratic opponent, former Senator Doug Jones, might be considered a live dog at this point, paying out $750 for every $100 bet should he win. For comparison, those -1500 odds are equivalent to the moneyline price on the Crimson Tide winning outright against UMass.
The assertion by Tuberville prompted Jones to post a photo of his opponent's days coaching at Auburn getting cozy with that school's team mascot, Aubie The Tiger.
https://t.co/Mret7hsoyd pic.twitter.com/ByVWzI0XWe
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) September 24, 2026
That tweet didn't exactly go over well with Auburn fans apparently.
One person wrote:
""His 'rebuttal' against Coach Tubs is a picture of Tubs with Auburn University’s mascot “Aubie”. I’m an Alabama fan, and even I know the mascot. This is desperation. Keep AL sane. Vote straight RED."
And another commented:
"Are you equating furries to college mascots? That’s a heck of a stance to take."
And this one:
"Don’t you ever call aubie a furry."
"Doug half the state are Auburn fans. Making Aubie - a true live mascot - equivalent to furry subculture will alienate half the state man!!"
J Bradley Nelson offered:
"Doug half the state are Auburn fans. Making Aubie - a true live mascot - equivalent to furry subculture will alienate half the state man!!"
And yet another X user dragged Big Al The Elephant into the debate, posting a photo of both team mascots standing together with Alabama's sitting governor, Kay Ivey, holding up signs "Mascots are not furries" and "Don't sexualize me".
Tuberville doubled down on his theory, sharing a link for an “Aviation Furs Meet-up” that occurred at a furry convention in Minneapolis earlier this month, asking, “Would you be comfortable with a MENTALLY ILL FURRY being your pilot?”
No major medical organization categorizes being a furry as a mental illness.
Nonetheless, the fur is definitely starting to fly in the Alabama governor's race and this one might bear watching.
BetOnline has not yet seen an uptick in wagering activity for this particular race however....yet.
Nevertheless, the Alabama governor's race is now officially in fun political props territory (hint, hint BetOnline).
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
