Tuberville incorrectly says Gore was president-elect in 2000

Republican Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama on Thursday in his first major interview since Election Day incorrectly said that former Vice President Al Gore was president-elect for 30 days, and also misidentified the three branches of the federal government. 

While speaking to The Alabama Daily News, the former Auburn football coach who unseated Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) last week said that he thinks “it is still up in the air who’s going to be the president,” adding that media outlets should have waited to declare a winner amid President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in several battleground states. 

“The media has got to stand down on all of this because they’re creating so much havoc,” Tuberville said. 

He then added, “I remember in 2000 Al Gore was president, United States, president elect, for 30 days – 30 days – and after 30 days, it got to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court says, no, George Bush is going to be the president.”

Gore was not projected as the winner of the presidential election in 2000 by any major networks, though several networks did incorrectly and prematurely declare him as he winner of Florida, the state that ended up being decisive in that election.

The networks then has to retract those projections, and several networks then prematurely declared Republican George W. Bush as the president-elect, before pulling that projection back as well. 

At another point in the interview, Tuberville also incorrectly said that the three branches of the federal government are “the House, the Senate and executive.” 

As stated in the Constitution, the three branches of government are the legislative, which includes both the House and the Senate; the executive, composed of the presidency, the Cabinet and executive departments; and judicial, which includes the Supreme Court. 

While discussing his concerns that a Biden presidency could lead to “a socialist type of government,” Tuberville said “my dad fought 76 years ago in Europe to free Europe of socialism.”

World War II was a fight against fascism in Europe. Adolf Hitler’s fascist regime strongly opposed the state ownership of capital and egalitarian ideals of socialism, and also ordered the execution of those who supported socialism and communism. 

The U.S. was allied in World War II with the Soviet Union, though the Soviets had initially agreed to a non-aggression pact with Hitler. 

Tuberville also said in Thursday’s interview that he planned to use his Senate office to raise money for the two Republican senators in Georgia who are facing runoff elections. The use of official government resources for campaigning is strictly prohibited by Senate ethics rules. 

The political newcomer gained traction this election cycle by allying himself with Trump, and claimed in 2019 that “God sent Donald Trump to us.” 

Tuberville defeated Jones, who won the seat three years ago in a special election to finish the term of then-GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions’s (Ala.) term after the longtime lawmaker stepped down to become President Trump’s first attorney general.