There’s a quote going viral right now from newly elected GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville in Alabama that’s being used to suggest he doesn’t know that the Constitution dictates when President-elect Joe Biden must take the oath of office.
First up, here’s the incorrect version of the quote via CBS 42 in Alabama: “We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit.”
A newly elected U.S. senator proposed delaying Biden’s inauguration until “after we got this virus behind us a little bit.”
First problem is the Constitution. Second problem is we’re … not really close to that?https://t.co/rsHJu2NSyD pic.twitter.com/9N7MSOxtcg
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 15, 2021
But if you watch the actual interview, you see that what was left out was the words, “done an.” The accurate version is: “We probably could have had a swearing-in and done an inauguration a little later on after we’d got this virus behind us a little bit.”
I listened to this again and this is just a straight up inaccurate transcript. What Tuberville actually said was “we probably could have had a swearing in and done an inauguration a little later on after we’d got this virus behind us a little bit.” https://t.co/DcHbIwg6pE
— bearistotle (@gnrosenberg) January 15, 2021
Watch for yourself:
Listen for yourself. The video is here. He’s quite clear. He wasn’t suggesting Biden shouldn’t be made President on the 20th.https://t.co/3zBeuUzkPK
— bearistotle (@gnrosenberg) January 15, 2021
Video here:
It seems pretty clear to us that Sen. Tuberville is saying do the swearing-in on January 20 and then hold the festive part of the process at a later date.
Now, people can argue about “and” vs. “and done an” as much as they want, but it’s the inaccurate quote that’s being share right now. The CBS 42 story was picked up by al.com and then shared by the WaPo’s Josh Dawsey this morning:
Tuberville says delay inauguration, but date is set by Constitution https://t.co/mDn7CDkQXv
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 15, 2021
And now his tweet is being shared:
“We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit,” Tuberville told WKRG in Mobile. “Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C.” https://t.co/yUxrQulTve
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 15, 2021
Explain to him that there are no time outs https://t.co/Jx4wbG5Sfr
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 15, 2021
Mr. Tuberville doesn’t seem to know what the three branches of government are either …
“Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way,” Tuberville said. “You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.” https://t.co/jeXqXFyjHv
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) January 15, 2021
are you telling me a failed college football coach is having trouble understanding proper clock management https://t.co/nxKLaWcrQk
— Chris Branch (@cbranch89) January 15, 2021
This is exhausting. Are we going to have to fact-check every quote from now on? Apparently so.
Editor’s note: In the spirit of transparency, even this editor reacted to the original quote without checking. Lesson learned (again):
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) January 15, 2021
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