On Friday, the White House criticized Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for his announcement of a bridge project in his home state that was made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds. It should be noted that Tuberville voted against this act back in the summer of 2021.
In a recent post on X, Tuberville expressed his excitement over the news that the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project is set to receive a $550 million grant from the Department of Transportation. He further stated that this grant is a massive victory not just for Mobile, but also for the state of Alabama and the Southeast region as a whole. The statement from his office accompanied his post.
The White House has criticized Republicans for engaging in similar behavior in the past, so it was not pleased to see the inconsistency between the former Auburn University football coach’s current sentiment and his past actions.
According to The Daily Beast, when asked about certain points, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates clarified that those were made by someone else, and not by the coach.
Shortly after Tuberville posted his message, X users criticized him for trying to claim some responsibility for the project.
Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL) expressed her agreement with Senator Tuberville and called it a significant victory. She also highlighted the fact that Senator Tuberville had voted against the bill that made this win possible. Being the only member of Congress from Alabama who supported the Infrastructure Law of President Biden, she felt proud to witness these funds being allocated to her state.
Although Tuberville has a voting record that does not align with his public comments praising federal spending for the project, he is not the only one. According to AL.com, all eight of Alabama’s Republican representatives in Congress wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg last month requesting federal support for the project. Surprisingly, none of them voted for the infrastructure legislation in 2021.
