Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on Friday argued that the Biden administration, not former President Donald Trump, is to blame for killing the border security bill.
Speaking on CNN, Mullin disputed the notion that President Trump publicly and privately tried to kill the bill before it was even introduced.
Marin disagreed with host Manu Raju, who suggested that President Trump had lobbied senators and representatives to block the bill from passing.
The Oklahoma senator argued that Trump became involved after the Biden administration refused to negotiate with Republicans.
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Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) speaks in an interview outside the Fiserv Forum on the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Nick Oxford/AFP via Getty Images)
“Chuck Schumer never reached out to Republicans to talk to us. They never put together a working group,” Mullin said before being interrupted by Raju.
Raju asked about Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the lead Republican negotiator on the Senate border security bill, who in February argued the bill would create a “faster and more powerful” deportation system and “reverse” Biden's immigration policies, urging critics to read the bill.
But he later called for an open debate and criticized Democrats for “politicizing” the bill.
Mullin said Lankford also voiced his dissatisfaction with the bill because Democrats “are doing everything they can to kill it,” and argued that Democrats have ended debate on the bill and turned it into an “yes or no” situation.
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U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin argued that the border bill was defeated because the Biden administration refused to negotiate with Republicans. (CNN/Screenshot)
“The left-wing media, including you, are saying 'The Lankford Bill,' but it's not the Lankford Bill. Lankford was trying to negotiate on behalf of Republicans. Democrats never actually tried to negotiate with Republicans,” he said.
“So it wasn't President Trump who repealed it, it was the Biden administration who repealed it because the administration has handled the border situation terribly and that hasn't changed and they wanted to try something,” Mullin continued.
In February, Biden claimed Trump was obstructing border legislation.
“Right now, the indications are that this bill won't even make it to the Senate floor. Why? The reason is simple: Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks this bill is not good for him politically,” Biden said at the time. “So, what we're hearing over the last 24 hours is that he's done nothing but try to engage and intimidate Republicans in the House and the Senate to vote against this proposal. And it looks like they're caving in.”
A border bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) failed in test votes in February and May.
Senate Republicans previously called the bill a “sham” and criticized Democrats for not taking up a House-backed border bill (H.R. 2) that would have addressed Republican priorities.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
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