ATLANTA, Ga. — In a phone interview with Yellowhammer News on Thursday, U.S. Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke about his thoughts on the planned effort by some U.S. House Republicans to challenge the Electoral College votes of certain states on January 6.
The effort is being led by Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05), however the formal support of at least one senator is still needed to force floor debate and votes by each chamber on the respective states in question. The electors of each state voted on Monday, and the results would put Joe Biden into office on January 20 if they are accepted by Congress.
Tuberville this week has been back on the campaign trail, this time traveling across Georgia supporting U.S. Senators Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) as part of the “Save America” bus tour.
Sharing a video recorded via a hidden camera from a Wednesday tour stop in Buckhead, a liberal activist in a misleading tweet claimed that Tuberville pledged to back the congressional challenge to the Electoral College in January. Underlining her bias, that activist has also captioned the video, “Cheat Home Alabama,” in reference to Brooks and Tuberville.
Speaking to Yellowhammer News, Tuberville emphasized that he has not made up his mind on whether he will support the congressional challenge; he outlined that he will be doing his “due diligence,” studying the issue and soliciting feedback from his constituents before taking a stance.
This aligns with his pledge while running for election and then during his November 3 victory speech that he will represent the wishes of the majority of his constituents as a senator.
“I want to do what’s best for President Trump and the people of Alabama and the people of this country,” Tuberville said on Thursday. “They asked me, ‘Are you going to support President Trump?’ And, of course, I’m always going to support President Trump. He’s the best president of my lifetime and has done more for the people of this country and the state of Alabama than anybody. But we want to make sure we do the right thing.”
He explained that he has been getting a large number of emails and text messages, as well as in-person feedback while campaigning in Georgia, about Brooks’ effort the past few days. The former Auburn University head football coach said the large majority of what he is hearing is people concerned about alleged voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
“Now that I’m off the road I’m going to start doing my due diligence,” Tuberville advised. “It’s not like you have to make your mind up in the next 24 hours. I’ll probably meet with Mo Brooks and get his side of it.”
He expects his “due diligence” to be conducted “through Christmas.”
Tuberville outlined he will do “background work like I did when I was coaching.”
“You just don’t jump out there and decide you’re going to throw a ‘Hail Mary’ pass — or a halfback pass. You’ve got to have a reason why you’re doing it. There’s no doubt I’m a huge Donald Trump guy, as most people in the state of Alabama are,” he remarked.
The Republican stated that many people, including him, generally want to see the electoral process cleaned up and corruption rooted out across the nation. He noted that Alabama’s elections officials “did a great job in our state and always do.”
Stressing his concern over allegations of voter fraud, Tuberville said he wants to review all of the relevant evidence that would support those charges.
Tuberville subsequently refuted the assertion in the activist’s original tweet that he was taking an oppositional stance to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
“Listen, people take stuff out of context,” he lamented. Tuberville also explained that the video clip in question was recorded in a crowd when several people were talking to him at once.
“I will make a decision pretty soon, but I’m going to get all of the information before doing so,” he reiterated. “I haven’t done any background work yet. I want to know all about it first. … Mine will be an answer for the people of our state and country, not for any media people out there. We’re going to do what’s right.”
He looks forward to “sit[ting] down and looking at all the evidence they’ve compiled.”
“You don’t do it just to be doing it,” the senator-elect noted of potential challenges. “You’ve got to make sure it’s going to be beneficial. I hope whatever I do is beneficial.”
Tuberville also commented that he will likely be returning to Georgia ahead of the Peach State’s January 5 runoffs to continue helping Republicans maintain the majority in the upper chamber. He summarized that the races are “the last line of defense against the socialists.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
