President Joe Biden trolled Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, on Wednesday for touting federal funds coming to his state from a bill he voted against.
«See you at the inauguration», Biden tweeted in Tuberville after the senator hailed the news that Alabama would receive $1.4 billion to improve broadband access in the state.
The funding comes from the $555 billion infrastructure bill that Biden campaigned for and signed into law in November 2021. Tuberville was one of 30 Republican senators who voted against the legislation, but hailed the arrival of the funds on social media this week.
«Broadband is vital to the success of our rural communities and our entire economy. It’s great to see Alabama receive crucial funding to fuel continued broadband efforts,» Tuberville tweeted Tuesday.
The tweet was quickly tagged with a «context» note from Twitter users. «Important context to know here: While Sen Tuberville is celebrating this grant now, he voted against it when he ran for the Senate, and has never expressed support for him until now,» the note read.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison also tweeted in response to Tuberville, let alone mildly than Biden.
«They always talk about the waste of government… the biggest waste of government is paying the salary of a senator who does nothing but vote No to everything that is needed in AL!» he wrote.
A Tuberville spokesman, Steven Stafford, said in a statement that he had «voted against the infrastructure bill because it wasted Alabama’s tax dollars. It spent too much to get too little in return for Alabama.»
But, Stafford said, «now that it’s the law of the land, the people of Alabama deserve their fair share. Coach is proud to advocate for this funding to go to Alabama.»
Tuberville has come under bipartisan criticism in recent months for holding up the promotions of more than 150 military officers in protest of a recent Defense Department policy that provides travel expenses and paid time off for service members and their dependents seeking abortions.
The conflict over the issue of abortion, both Tuberville’s control of the nominations and the state’s passage of a restrictive abortion law, has sparked speculation that the White House could overturn the Trump administration’s decision to convert the state at US Space Command headquarters, which Tuberville referred to. in a tweet in response to Biden.
He asked the senator if the «innovator» Biden was referring to was the «innovator for Space Command in Huntsville?»
Tuberville is far from the first Republican to tout funding for the infrastructure bill despite voting against it. An NBC News review in January 2022 found that at least eight House Republicans had promoted different aspects of the bill’s funding for infrastructure projects despite voting against the legislation.
Then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at the time: «We appreciate your support of the president’s agenda, an agenda that was supported by some Republicans, not the majority.»
«Hopefully they take the right vote to support their communities and jobs, job creation in the future,» he added. «Maybe it will make them think twice.»
CORRECTION (June 28, 2023 5:13 pm ET): An earlier version of this article incorrectly dated an NBC News review of House Republicans touting aspects of the bill’s funding. infrastructure law. It was in January 2022, not January 2023.