Tommy Tuberville Wants Joe Biden Inauguration Delayed Until COVID ‘Behind Us’
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© Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) meets with the media on November 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tuberville has suggested delaying President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has suggested delaying the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden until the COVID-19 pandemic is under better control—a move that would violate the U.S. Constitution.
Tuberville told CBS42 on Wednesday that wasn’t in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump, pointing to how little time he had left in office. The interview took place before the House formally impeached the president.
“Well, we have the worst pandemic in my lifetime, and we’re worrying about impeaching a guy that only going to be there seven more days. Makes no sense to me,” Tuberville said.
“We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit. Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C,” the senator added.
However, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires the new president to be sworn in on January 20. It’s unclear if Tuberville was aware of that during his interview.
There is no means to extend Trump’s term beyond that date. Tuberville was one of a small group of Republican senators to object to the Electoral College results. He voted to sustain objections to slates of electors from both Arizona and Pennsylvania on January 6.
Tuberville also addressed the fact Democrats will have control of the Senate. Though the chamber will be split 50/50, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be able to break any deadlocks in the administration’s favor.
“How much we will get done, who knows,” Tuberville said. “We still have a filibuster of 60 votes. That’s going to be hard to accomplish when you got 50/50. But we will wait and see what the Democrats want to do. They have the leadership now.”
Tuberville also said on Wednesday that Trump knows he made a mistake with regard to events at the Capitol. The president has not publicly acknowledged his role in the riot.
“He made a mistake. He said he made a mistake. That’s not, to me, not an impeachable offense,” Tuberville said. “He’s got one week to go from today. We’ll have a new president in President Biden. We need to go on with life. I mean, to me, you know, when you understand you made mistakes and admitted. You forgive. You go on.”
Tuberville has been asked for comment on this article.
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