'Get him out!' Republican boots reporter cornering him on failed pledge

MAGA Senator Tommy Tuberville didn't like a question a reporter asked him during a campaign dinner Tuesday evening, so much so that he had the reporter booted from the private event. The situation transpired at Moe’s BBQ in Mobile, Alabama, where Tuberville directed staffers to remove Lagniappe Daily reporter Scott Johnson after he questioned the senator about his unfulfilled pledge to donate his congressional salary to veterans and their families, the Lagniappe Daily reports.

Tuberville is currently on the ballot for governor of Alabama. After Johnson asked his question, Tuberville instructed the staff to “get him out,” before Johnson left without incident. Ironically, the same media outlet had been iced out from similar events, or told Tuberville wouldn’t be taking questions from media.

Tuberville was questioned about the same pledge during an Oct. 15 stop in Guntersville. Instead of answering directly, he seemingly blamed his lack of donations on tax requirements that prevented him from donating his salary before saying, “I said that back in 2020, and I hope everybody believed it," he said.

In July, Lagniappe Daily reported that there was no record of Tuberville’s 2020 promise. At the time. Tuberville reportedly vowed to donate “every dime” he made in Washington D.C., to Alabama, in addition to presenting monthly checks. But Lagniappe Daily’s investigation reveals there are no tax records or documentation from his own nonprofit that prove any donations of such.

Tuberville reportedly made the promise more than once during his 2020 U.S. Senate campaign trail. Six years later, the donations would now be worth more than $1 million, based on his annual salary of $174,000.

According to Alabama tax statements released by Tuberville’s campaign, reported wages, salaries, and tips were $135,266 in 2021, $136,588 in 2022, $129,898 in 2023, and $127,667 in 2024. The reason for the wages being lower than the $174,000 annual salary is unknown, but the income reported is verified.

His charitable donations do not compare to his annual income for those years. The same Alabama tax data does not show in-kind charitable gifts or listed amounts for 2022, $2,500 in 2023, and there is no listed amount in 2024.

In an interview with Talk 99.5 in Birmingham in February 2020, Tuberville defended his commitments to supporting veterans despite it putting him in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration. “My salary — you know what I’m doing? I’m going to come on your show once every few months, and I’m going to give my salary, a check, to a veteran or a wife that has lost her husband, or their kids to go to school. I’m not taking one dime, and I’m giving it to the veterans. I stand and put up when I talk,” he said.