Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville said that his office has filed a report with U.S. Capitol Police in light of a recent attack made online by former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Michael Hayden.
“This morning my office was made aware of a statement made by General Michael Hayden calling for a politically motivated assassination,” read a statement shared by Tuberville on X, formerly Twitter. “This statement is disgusting and it is repugnant to everything we believe in as Americans.”
Hayden’s statement in question was a post to X Monday evening in response to a question posed by online personality Nathalie Jacoby, who asked her users if Tuberville should be removed from the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Republican lawmaker has blocked hundreds of military promotions in protest of the Department of Defense’s policy on abortion access for service members.
In response to Jacoby’s post, Hayden wrote, “How about the human race?”
Hayden later double-downed on his statement, writing in a post Tuesday morning that despite receiving backlash from “many MAGAnuts” over his attack against Tuberviller, “I stand by that view.”
Tuberville said that Hayden’s comments were “a serious crime” and called out Democrats for not condemning the attack as of Tuesday afternoon. He also criticized the former CIA director for “presiding over some of the biggest failures in the history of American intelligence,” including the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
“I am a conservative and a Republican, but above all, I am an American who cares about this country and is deeply concerned for its future,” Tuberville continued in his statement. “I am not a politician, and when I came to Washington, I did not expect to be popular among the clown show; but I certainly did not expect to be lied about on the Senate floor and threatened by former government officials like Michael Hayden.”
Newsweek reached out to Hayden via email Tuesday evening for comment.
Tuberville, a former football coach at Auburn University, has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for his blockade of military promotions, which lawmakers and military personnel argue are harming the U.S. armed services. Last month, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer lashed out at his Republican colleague from the Senate floor, claiming that Tuberville has “accomplished nothing” in his protest.
Last month, Tuberville told Newsweek that he would end his hold on military promotions if the Pentagon agreed to pull back on their policy and let Congress have a vote on the matter. The Senator claims that the DOD’s policy of funding travel expenses for military members seeking abortion care out of state is against federal law.
“The American people deserve a vote. It’s too controversial a topic not to vote on,” Tuberville told Newsweek. “You don’t just don’t say, ‘We’re just gonna do it this way.’ I mean, that’s not what we do here in this country.”
Correction 10/11/23, 1:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect that Senator Tommy Tuberville was the football coach at Auburn University.