U.S. Sen. James Lankford spoke to Lincoln County Republicans Monday evening in Chandler reassuring them the whole world hasn’t gone crazy.
He addressed the gathering during their January meeting in which they also heard from Republican Attorney General Candidate Gentner Drummond.
During an interview earlier in the day, Lankford touched on several issues. Among them were the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attempted takeover of the Capitol; the Supreme Court’s decision last week overturning the vaccine mandates and COVID; the status of the American economy; and Senate Democrats’ efforts to historically change the filibuster rules.
The Senator criticized the House’s ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 attempted takeover of the Capitol, saying that Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “from the beginning made it partisan. She refused to set it up evenly, appointing only two Republicans and five Democrats. That certainly is not non-partisan,” he added.
He stated her efforts are aimed at a version of the facts, noting “and not the whole truth. There are legitimate questions that should be and needed to be asked,” the senator thinks.
Lankford pointed to the Senate side of the investigation, calling it “A true investigation. I was on one of those committees and there were an even number of Democrats and Republicans. We had multiple meetings over multiple months,” he said.
“It’s clear that Pelosi and the Democrats are not wanting to get to the bottom of it, the full story.”
He thinks her side of the investigation won’t end until just before the midterm election this November to get the maximum leverage of it.
“The Senate provided a full report with recommendations focused on keeping it from happening again, addressing the key issues,” Lankford believes.
Concerning the vaccine mandate, he stressed, “I pushed back against it immediately. It’s an individual’s choice and the individual has a right to choose. I chose to be vaccinated,” he added.
The senator pointed out he helped with writing one of the briefs that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. “The President can’t do that and the Court said OSHA doesn’t have the authority to control all public health in America,” Lankford asserted.
“The Supreme Court was very clear on that in their 6-3 decision last week,” he emphasized.
Talking about COVID-19, the senator stated, “I think America is frustrated with the COVID. They don’t like masks, mandates or quarantining. They are wearing down on this.”
He said he recently spoke with a doctor on the issue who indicated to him “within a couple of years it will be less toxic. But we have to go through this worldwide.”
Lankford said he was planning to tell the Monday evening gathering that President Biden’s numbers are dropping each week. “The vast majority of the people do not agree with the President,” the senator further noted.
Lankford said after Monday evening’s talk in Chandler, he would return to Washington on Tuesday morning in time for a series of votes he expects this week on the filibuster rules.
“What the Democrats are trying to do with the filibuster rules is historic,” the senator explained.
“The filibuster rules have been changed in the past but in the right way. Two Democratic senators, one from Arizona and one West Virginia, have indicated they are not willing to go along with this in the Senate,” Lankford said.
“There is a core principle involved,” he continued, pointing to what he predicts will be a series of votes on the issue.
Addressing the economy, Lankford commented, “We are in a very odd season. President Biden poured $2 trillion into an economy that was already in recovery. “It’s causing massive inflation and
“It’s causing massive inflation and they are paying people more not to work than work,” he said. “We are seeing seven percent inflation,
“We are seeing seven percent inflation, something we haven’t seen since 1982 and we’re seeing the cost of borrowing already headed up.”