Clarification:  In a previous version of this article, two words were omitted in a quote attributed to Sen. Tommy Tuberville. The article has since been updated with the addition of those two words, “done” and “an.” The story has also been updated with a statement from the senator’s spokeswoman.

MONTGOMERY, Ala (WIAT) — Newly sworn-in Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is back in Alabama following the violent attack on the Capitol last week. 

Tuberville visited the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Montgomery on Wednesday. He was seeking an update on recent COVID-19 vaccinations in Alabama’s VA homes and hospitals.

Afterward, he took a few moments to discuss his first full week in Washington, D.C. as a U.S. senator.

Tuberville was one of only a handful of Republican senators who voted not to certify the electoral college win of Joe Biden. That vote came just hours following a violent attack on the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters.

Since then, Tuberville has condemned the violence and says he accepts that Biden will be the new president. He also addressed the fact that Democrats will have control of the Senate.

“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.”

At the time of our interview, the House had not yet voted to impeach President Trump for his role in the riot, but Tuberville was clear he’s not in favor of impeachment.

“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,” Tuberville said. “Makes no sense to me.” 

Tuberville also questioned the timing of the inauguration on Jan. 20. 

“We probably could have had the swearing-in and done an inauguration a little later on after we got this virus behind us a little bit,” Tuberville said. “Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C.”

However, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires that the inauguration and swearing-in of a new president take place on Jan. 20. It wasn’t clear if Tuberville was aware of that during the interview. 

A spokeswoman for Tuberville provided the following statement to CBS 42 two days after this article was originally published:

“It’s incorrect to interpret the Senator’s comments as calling for the postponement the actual act of swearing-in President-elect Biden. The Senator spent the last two days visiting with Alabama medical care providers to receive updates on the ongoing pandemic. Understanding the widely recognized health and safety concerns regarding large gatherings, the Senator was suggesting the public gathering for inaugural ceremonies could be reconsidered. As the Senator has previously said, President-elect Biden will take over next week.”

Tuberville plans to tour other VA hospitals and nursing homes around the state in the new few days. He will return to Washington, D.C. next week.

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