AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
- It appears Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is a difficult guy to get ahold of.
- Earlier this week Rudy Giuliani left a long and rambling message for Tuberville — on somebody else’s voicemail.
- Yesterday during the Capitol Building siege President Donald Trump attempted to reach Tuberville, but got Utah Sen. Mike Lee instead, according to the Deseret News
- There’s speculation that both Giuliani and Trump were attempting to reach Tuberville to encourage him to object to the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
It seems that nobody can get junior Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville on the first try.
Just days ago Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani left a long, rambling, and rather revealing voicemail for Tuberville – only it was the wrong number and the call reached an unnamed politician. The voicemail, which urged Tuberville to slow down the Electoral College vote certification as much as possible, was sent to The Dispatch and transcribed in full.
Then on Wednesday, President Trump attempted to reach Tuberville, too.
Only this time, the call went to Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who happened to be hunkering down near Tuberville in the Senate Chamber.
Lee told the Deseret News of his strange call with the president.
“How’s it going, Tommy?” the president asked.
Lee told Trump he wasn’t Tommy.
“Well, who is this?” Trump asked.
“It’s Mike Lee,” the senator said.
“Oh, hi Mike. I called Tommy.”
Lee said he then handed his phone over to Tuberville, who spoke with the president for around ten minutes, according to the Deseret News. In the midst of their phone call, Lee said, the Capitol police burst in and urged everyone to evacuate the building.
As the pro-Trump mob moved closer, Lee said he panicked and asked Tuberville for his phone back.
“I don’t want to interrupt your call with the president, but we’re being evacuated and I need my phone,” he said.
Tuberville later told Lee he didn't think the president was aware that the siege was happening.
Tuberville was one of several Republican senators - including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas - who voted to overturn election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
In December, Tuberville received praise from Trump after he said that he would not rule out objecting to the election results during the Electoral College certification process.
Following the siege of the Capitol Building, Tuberville tweeted his condemnation of the protesters.
"Yesterday was a sad day for our great country," he wrote. "I strongly condemn the violence and actions we saw from those who stormed the Capitol. It undermines the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and it has no place in our democracy."