It seems no one can get Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville on the first try.
President Donald Trump, personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, on Wednesday left behind a long, shaky and rather revealing ballot that was intended for Tuberville, but instead sent it to another, anonymous politician. The ballot, which encouraged Tuberville to delay the certification of the Electoral College as much as possible, was sent to The Dispatch and transcribed in full.
It looks like President Donald Trump also attempted to reach Tuberville on the same day.
This time, the call allegedly went to Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who accidentally sank near Tuberville in the Senate Hall of the U.S. Capitol besieged by a pro-Trump mob.
Lee told the Deseret News about his strange call with the president.
“How are you, Tommy?” he remembers the president asked.
Lee told Trump he is not Tommy.
“Well, who is it?” Asked Trump.
“This is Mike Lee,” the senator said.
‘Oh, hello, Mike. I called Tommy. ‘
Lee told Deseret News he then gave his phone to Tuberville, who he said had spoken to the president for about ten minutes. Amid their phone call, Lee said, police began evacuating lawmakers from the area.
Lee said he questioned Tuberville back then.
“I do not want to interrupt your call with the president, but we are being evacuated and I need my phone,” he said.
Lee told Deseret News that, based on a conversation with Tuberville a little later, he did not think the president was aware of the siege during the call.
Tuberville was one of several Republican senators – including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas – who voted to block election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. These attempts failed, and after Congress reconvened after the siege, he certified Joe Biden as elected president.
In December, Tuberville received praise from Trump after he said he would not rule out the election results during the Electoral College certification process.
After the siege of the Capitol, Tuberville tweeted condemnation of the mob of Trump supporters.
“Yesterday was a sad day for our great country,” he wrote. “I strongly condemn the violence and actions we have seen from those who stormed the Capitol. It undermines the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and it has no place in our democracy.”