All posts tagged "oklahoma"

MAGA loses it as GOP gov appoints senator who donated to Trump foe: 'This should end him!'

MAGA fans were outraged after the controversial replacement for Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) was announced on Tuesday.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed oil and gas executive Alan Armstrong, who had formerly made a $5,800 donation to one of President Donald Trump's enemies, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). Kinzinger had voted to impeach Trump, and the donation came around that time.

Stitt announced the appointment in a post on X, just hours after Mullin was formally confirmed late Monday as the new Homeland Security Secretary, replacing the outgoing embattled Trump administration leader Kristi Noem. Noem was fired by President Donald Trump, who appointed Mullin and moved Noem into another role.

"Alan is a proud third-generation Oklahoman, staunch conservative, respected business leader, and a devoted family man with an inspiring American Dream story," Stitt said.

"He is entering the U.S. Senate at a critical time for advancing reforms to secure America’s energy future. I have no doubt that his perspective will be influential in moving the needle on permitting reform to unlock American competitiveness and energy affordability for generations to come," Stitt added.

MAGA followers on social media were furious with the move, with several people calling Stitt a "RINO," a biting acronym for Republican in name only.

"Another RINO. lock and step. These people hate MAGA," Justin Baugher, who frequently shares MAGA-related content on his social media, wrote on X.

"Armstrong DONATED to Adam Kinzinger AFTER he voted to impeach President Trump and joined the J6 witch hunt committee. You couldn’t be more anti-Trump if you tried," Jessica, a paralegal and nutritionist who self-describes as MAGA and MAHA, wrote on X.

"Good this Should END @GovStitt any political ambitions he ever had!!! We are SICK of RINOS!!!" User janconcern, who self-identifies as MAGA, wrote on X.

"Wow. Just like he made us proud when he supported Biden. True RINO’s stick together," Sherre Ann, who self-describes as an "America First Patriot," wrote on X.

Trump's new DHS pick can't stop embarrassing himself — and he hasn't even started

There just might be a second reason — besides the constant fawning praise for Dear Leader — why Donald Trump chose Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as his new Secretary of Homeland Security.

Trump has floated the idea of hosting a UFC fight on the White House grounds on July 4th, trampling the memories of John-John and Caroline Kennedy playing on those lawns, and presidential dogs Rex, Barney, and Beau scampering about.

So what could top an ultimate marquee match between Mullin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth? Let’s call it the “Cabinet Clash:” two Trump testosterone toadies, going mano a mano.

Because if you actually look at Mullin’s qualifications for his new role, there isn’t much that recommends him, other than that he compiled a 5–0 record in professional Mixed Martial Arts.

There was a time when the Secretary of Homeland Security was perhaps the most serious and consequential cabinet post. The job was created after 9/11 to coordinate intelligence, secure our borders, and manage the immense responsibility of protecting 330 million Americans.

Prestigious names have led the department: Tom Ridge, Janet Napolitano, Jeh Johnson. During Trump’s first administration, Gen. John Kelly. Serious people for a serious job.

Then the gravitas of the position took a nosedive when Kristi Noem rode in on her horse. Only this week was she thrown off, for being far less than forthright.

And now there’s Sen. Mullin, a man whose most notable pre-politics credential is that 5–0 MMA record.

Politically speaking, Mullin’s MMA stands for Macho Mixed-Up Ass.

Let’s start with the “mixed-up” part.

This week, Mullin pulled an Abbott and Costello routine, simultaneously arguing regarding strikes on Iran that the U.S. is and is not at war.

First he declared, “This is war, and we’re taking out the threat.”

Then he tried to clarify: “What I was saying was that they’ve declared war on us, but war is ugly. It always has been ugly.”

He finished with this gem: “We haven’t declared war. So if we haven’t declared war, then I don’t see that. The president hasn’t asked us to declare war yet, but they have declared war on us.”

Who’s on first, what’s on second, “I don’t know” is on third, and somewhere on that field of battle Mullin is still milling around, trying to decipher his own explanation.

If you thought Hegseth had captured the trophy for inauthentic and immature machismo, Mullin may give him a run for his money.

In November 2023, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Famously, Mullin challenged him to a fight.

“This is the time, this is the place,” Mullin said. “If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.”

Sure sounds like a sane, responsible adult to me.

This year, at the State of the Union, Mullin grabbed a protest sign from Rep. Al Green (D-TX). Frankly, Mullin would make a fine ICE agent. He’s had practice roughing up a person of color.

And if you’re a member of the media, take note.

In April last year, Mullin posted a video recounting an 1890 incident in which a reporter was shot by a congressman in the U.S. Capitol. Mullin suggested “fake news” might decrease if modern disputes could be handled that way. He said it was a joke. Haha.

Mullin does enjoy “joking” around on Fox News, where he has made something of a habit of embarrassing himself.

In one segment, he waxed poetic about how war has a particular smell and a particular taste. The only problem was that Mullin has never served a single day in uniform.

Even back home in Oklahoma, he has hardly been a profile in integrity.

Mullin ran for Congress on a term-limits pledge, then broke it twice. In 2013 his plumbing business was the subject of an ethics investigation. More recently, he racked up STOCK Act violations, meant to stop members of Congress profiting from insider information.

He called Rand Paul, a senator who will be overseeing his confirmation, a “freaking snake.”

Come to think of it, Paul v. Mullin would also make a great MMA fight.

So this Macho Mixed-up Ass is the man who would oversee the Secret Service, FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, ICE, and the TSA. A man who endorses war — and not war — violence against the press and political opponents, who is ethically challenged and has zero background in security, intelligence, or managing a massive federal bureaucracy.

And all that said, Mullin might yet need to be reminded who his boss actually is.

A few days ago, while discussing Iran on Fox News, Mullin repeatedly referred to Defense Secretary Hegseth as “President Hegseth.” He made the slip twice before awkwardly correcting himself.

The Department of Homeland Security was built in the wreckage of the worst intelligence failure in American history. The job requires toughness but also judgment, patience, legal sophistication, and the ability to manage roughly 260,000 employees across more than two dozen agencies.

So while I joke about a Hegseth-Mullin cage match, Mullin’s nomination is no laughing matter.

Whether he realizes it or not, the United States faces real threats from adversaries around the world, and those adversaries are watching this spectacle of discombobulation, inexperience, and bravado.

When the real test comes, America may discover the difference between a man who talks about the smell of war, and a leader who actually knows how to prevent one.

John Casey was most recently Senior Editor, The Advocate, and is a freelance opinion and feature story writer. Previously, he was a Capitol Hill press secretary, and spent 25 years in media and public relations in NYC. He is the co-author of LOVE: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality (Rizzoli, 2025), named by Oprah in her "Best 25 of 2025.”

This shameless stunt shows yet another GOP governor putting his state second to Trump

I was disheartened to read that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is sending members of the Oklahoma National Guard to Washington, D.C. , to participate in the federal surge in the nation’s capital.

What’s being sold as a public safety initiative is actually a political stunt that trades real solutions for optics and short-term headlines.

This so-called “mission” reinforces the harmful narrative that D.C. is inherently unsafe, and that its residents, many of whom are Black and brown, pose a threat. Framing the District as a “federal enclave” in need of protection from its own people undermines local governance and only serves to fuel fear and distrust.

The decision to send troops without any coordination with local leaders mirrors the same top-down tactics we’ve seen from President Donald Trump’s administration time and again. It’s performative, punitive, and disconnected from the actual data.

Why is Oklahoma’s National Guard being deployed to a city that is not in crisis?

One of the primary justifications for the surge was a reported uptick in carjackings. What the data show is that carjackings have been falling from their historic peak in mid-year 2023, and even declined the month before the federal surge in August. Like other cities, D.C. has seen a significant decline in violent crime since the summer of 2023.

Prior to the surge of federal law enforcement policing D.C.’s streets, homicides, robberies, and carjackings have all dropped, mirroring national trends. The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan organization of public safety experts, reported “a large and unmistakable drop in reported violence” across the District. These gains were not the result of federal deployments and one-off interventions, but of sustained investments in community-based solutions: violence interruption, restorative justice programs, reentry support, and trauma-informed care.

Recent federal actions, including federal cuts to those exact violence prevention programs that work to reduce crime, have created further instability across D.C.’s public safety system.

While a spokesperson for the Governor said the increased deployment of the National Guard was designed to, “protect the federal enclave of D.C.”, even local law enforcement have warned that prolonged federal occupation could strain police-community relations and divert resources away from serious crime.

At its core, this federal surge is about power. It’s about a presidential administration trying to undermine the will of D.C. residents through force, nearly 700,000 of whom pay federal and city taxes, serve in the military, and vote in elections, but still have no full representation in Congress. Rather than respond to the needs of the city, federal actors are using D.C. as a stage to score political points and impose policies that override the will of District voters.

Do Oklahoma state officials really want to be complicit in a plan that undermines democratic norms, targets immigrants and Black communities, and disrespects local governance principles? Shouldn’t their focus be on meeting the needs and priorities of Oklahoma residents?

When the Oklahoma National Guard is deployed, it should be for genuine emergencies, not manufactured crises. Sustained safety in the District doesn’t come from a show of force, but from investments that support people and address the root causes of crime.

Residents of Oklahoma deserve to know what their service members are contributing to because the safety of District communities and residents is not it.

They deserve transparency and accountability from local officials who are sending the National Guard to D.C. to score political points under the illusion of supporting public safety.

Clinique Chapman is the chief executive officer of DC Justice Lab, a team of law and policy experts researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale changes to the District of Columbia’s criminal legal system.

This GOP extremist hypocrite fought unions. Guess what his new job is?

It’s ironic that a man who built his political career railing passionately about teachers “unions” will soon be running one of his own.

But in a way it’s almost fitting that it will be the next move for Oklahoma education Superintendent Ryan Walters, who has made it his mission to babble bizarre, inflammatory rhetoric and launch random witch hunts against educators and their unions.

Maybe it will help him recenter on who is vitally important to the success of our public schools — the teachers. Because if he truly wants to be successful, the role will require him to collaborate with them and show some empathy toward their needs.

Those are two skillsets that he’s been sorely lacking the past two years and 10 months in his elected position.

And maybe it will serve as a rude awakening that he’s betrayed the trust of Oklahomans who believed he could turn our schools around. They’ll now find themselves with a politically appointed leader they didn’t get to choose, for the remaining year or so of what should have been Walters’ term.

In case you weren’t randomly tuned into Fox News at 10:43 p.m. last Wednesday, Walters was allotted just under 40 seconds on a national conservative talk program to announce he has accepted a new role as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance. The group bills itself as an “alternative to traditional union membership,” but provides “professional support services and resources” for educators.

The group, which so far boasts a measly 2,800 members nationwide, is a new effort of the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit “dedicated to fighting government overreach, defending workers’ rights and protecting constitutional freedom.”

“For decades, union bosses have poisoned our schools with politics and propaganda while abandoning parents, students, and good teachers. That ends today. We’re going to expose them, fight them, and take back our classrooms,” Walters said in a statement released by the Freedom Foundation.

“At the Teacher Freedom Alliance, we’re giving educators real freedom, freedom from the liberal, woke agenda that has corrupted public education. We will arm teachers with the tools, support, and freedom they need, without forcing them to give up their values.”

The Teacher Freedom Alliance sure sounds like it has the same mission of a teachers union — you know, those groups Walters has loved to hate.

In January, Walters launched a tone deaf tirade attempting to link schools and teachers unions to the deadly truck attack in New Orleans and even used the phrase “terrorist training camps” to describe school classrooms.

This year, he also falsely claimed teachers unions love standardized testing (they don’t).

He pushed the state Board of Education to take away the teaching license of a former Norman High School educator for sharing a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library’s free online catalog. He is trying to revoke two other educators’ licenses over social media posts related to the 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump.

And most recently, he’s threatened to ban teachers for things they’ve posted on social media about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Now he’s going to be something of a union boss himself? That was not a square on my 2025 bingo card.

While the Teacher Freedom Alliance bills itself as a “viable alternative to unions,” it does appear to share many similarities with Oklahoma’s organizing groups. In Oklahoma, a few of the largest districts do have groups that collectively bargain for educators, but most don’t. However, one thing that makes Oklahoma’s associations different from unions in other states is that they cannot strike. But much like the Teacher Freedom Alliance, Oklahoma’s organizations provide their members liability insurance if they ever get sued as well as professional development training and an “engaged community of educators.”

In light of his new job, it sure appears that Walters has been spewing a whole lot of hyperbole about educators that he actually doesn’t believe. That’s pretty sad for our children and the teachers we’ve entrusted to educate them.

It also appears that Walters never intended to actually help fix our school system. Instead, he used the post that we entrusted him with to try to gain the attention of conservative groups so he could grab a cushy job.

Oklahoma voters — and teachers — deserve better. They deserve a public official who is committed to rolling up their sleeves and working together, and not someone who flees in terror when things get hard. And they need someone who is competent and understands how schools work and who isn’t motivated by grabbing headlines.

Hopefully fellow Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt will choose carefully when it comes time to fill the role. He’ll get to pick Walters’ successor once he officially resigns.

Walters has proven he doesn’t have a lot of respect for the voters who elected and believed in him if last night was any indication.

He couldn’t be bothered to let Oklahomans know he was leaving in a publicly accessible forum. Instead, he chose a late-night, cable talk show slot, which many Oklahomans don’t have access to, to announce he’s washing his hands of us.

Walters was likely a frontrunner in the 2026 gubernatorial race. I say that judging from the multitude of emails in support of him that I’ve received from people all over the state the past two years.

If he still harbored any plans to run for governor, I think he’s shot himself in the foot.

Oklahomans don’t like quitters. And they certainly don’t like hypocrites who preach one thing publicly while secretly believing something else.

Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014.

'Shameful': MAGA observers melt down over Supreme Court's new ruling

MAGA advocates staged a meltdown on social media after news broke that the U.S. Supreme Court failed to reach a decision in favor of allowing taxpayers to pay for a religious charter school in Oklahoma.

The court tied 4-4 Thursday, with one conservative justice siding with liberals. According to the Associated Press:

"The court, following its custom, did not provide a breakdown of the votes. But during arguments last month, four conservative justices seemed likely to side with the school, while the three liberals seemed just as firmly on the other side.

"That left Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to hold the key vote, and suggests he went with the liberals to make the outcome 4-4."

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Associate justice Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term, recused herself from the case. The New York Times speculated she did so due to "her close friendship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was an early adviser for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the school involved in the dispute."

Trump supporters saw this as a betrayal, with MAGA attorney Mike Davis posting to X, "How the hell did the conservative justices manage to lose this case? They should stick to their day jobs as judges. Instead of moonlighting as generals and senators. Biggest Winners: Anti-Christian bigots. Shameful."

The account of @coachfinstock.bsky.social‬ told his 78,000 followers, "BREAKING: AMY CONEY BARRETT TURNS BACK ON GOD."

"Amy Coney Barrett is a spineless justice, dodging a crucial school choice case today while consistently betraying conservative principles with her weak, partisan rulings. A pathetic letdown, she’s unfit for the Supreme Court," came from the account of @realTrentLeisy, self-described "die-hard supporter of President Trump" to his 41,000 followers.

Political strategist Joey Mannarino was blunt in his assessment, writing, "Amy Coney Barrett is a piece of s---. End of tweet."

President Trump has not yet commented on the Supreme Court's deadlock.

Amy Coney Barrett ensures religious school fight fails in Supreme Court

A recusal by conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has ensured that Oklahoma taxpayers will not have to pay for a religious public charter school.

Coney Barrett would have broken the 4-4 deadlock reached by the Court Thursday. Although she did not give a reason for her recusal, The New York Times speculated that the justice's "close friendship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was an early adviser for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the school involved in the dispute," may have contributed.

"The decision by the evenly divided court means that a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that said the proposal to launch St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School violates both the federal Constitution and state law remains in place," NBC News reported.

Coney Barrett is an extremely conservative and religious justice who analysts expected would have supported the school's case.

The lack of a majority vote means the court did not issue a written decision.

Read the NBC News report here.

'In a bind': Right-wing Supreme Court justices squirm as case puts them in awkward spot

The Supreme Court is set to hear an Oklahoma case that will force the justices to choose between allowing more religious control of public schools or "respecting the wishes of the Founding Fathers," according to a new article in The Atlantic.

History professor Adam Laats laid out how, "In 2023, the Oklahoma government approved an application from the Catholic Church to create a virtual charter school. Like other charter schools, this one would be funded by taxpayers. But unlike other charter schools, this one would be explicitly religious, teaching students Catholic doctrine."

Laats wrote that Oklahoma’s state attorney general objected on the grounds that the approval violated the state constitution, as well as the U.S. Constitution.

He explained that the Founding Fathers foresaw "he death of public schooling if schools came under the authority of any specific religious denomination, or even if a school appeared to favor one denomination over another."

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"Oklahoma’s plan for a public school run by the Catholic Church would...fly in the face of the Founding Fathers’ intentions and go against two centuries of American tradition," Laats wrote. "And it puts the six members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority in a bind. In previous decisions, they have insisted that they will be guided by history, using that rationale to allow for more religion in public schools. In this case, however, if they want to follow their own rules, they must decide in the other direction."

Laats wrote that members of the religious right are "hopeful" about the case that the Supreme Court will hear next week, since SCOTUS has given them "some significant victories in recent years" that were guided by the justices' understanding of history.

"But the case from Oklahoma makes claiming history as a justification harder for the conservative justices," he wrote. "In this case, the history is unambiguous: The Founding Fathers would never have approved of a public school that taught the religious doctrines of one specific kind of Christianity."

Read The Atlantic article here.

'Trying to railroad me!' Superintendent gets testy as CNN host says 'you've had issues'

Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, celebrated the Trump administration's dismantling of the Department of Education on Thursday before claiming he was being railroaded by CNN when asked about his state's performance record.

Walters, who recently pushed to have the Bible in every Oklahoma classroom, argued, "Parents know what's best for their kids, not bureaucrats. And what you're going to continue to see are states empowering families with this new freedom given to them by the Trump administration."

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar reminded him that parents have a great deal of power in public schools before discussing how key metrics have shown a drop in math and reading skills for fourth graders in his state.

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"Yeah, look, we have seen the performance of our urban students in fourth grade reading and math go up nearly 20 ranking points in the last two years," Walters said before Keilar interjected, "Overall, you've had issues, sir."

"Listen, you're going to continue to push these lies here on the network," Walters claimed, "but this is what the left wing continues to do."

Keilar shot back, "And Republican lawmakers as well as superintendents of schools who do not seem ideologically opposed to you."

"Now, that's just silly," Walters exclaimed.

He continued, "I know you're trying to railroad me here and gaslight here on CNN, but all of these things show the light, what left-wing administrators were lying about in our state."

Keilar then questioned Walters' administration skills, claiming mismanagement that left teachers wondering whether they would receive the funding they requested.

Walters remained defiant, blaming the left for instituting a smear campaign.

"We will unapologetically enforce an America First agenda into policy. We are going to stand with the president. We're going to continue to fight for these initiatives. We won't allow woke mobs. We won't allow gaslighting left-wing news networks to derail that. Our successes are clear, and this is going to be a turning point in American history.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'We're talking about children sir': CNN host presses official willing to hand kids to ICE

Oklahoma's superintendent of public schools adamantly proclaimed to CNN on Tuesday that he would do anything he could to further President Donald Trump's agenda — even if it meant informing on his own students.

Ryan Walters appeared with anchor Breanna Keilar to discuss a measure approved by Oklahoma's Board of Education that requires families to prove U.S. citizenship when enrolling students.

"I want to talk about what you have made clear, which is that raids are within the realm of possibility," Keilar said, before playing a recording of Walters pronouncing, "If that's what President Trump sees fit, as there's an illegal immigrant population there that needs to have enforcement to remove them from the schools, absolutely, we will work with him to make sure that he's able to carry that out."

Keilar asked, "Do you think that would be traumatic for students in schools? And I'm talking about all students."

"Well, what my big concern is what illegal immigration has done to our education system. It has caused mass chaos. We aren't able to get the resources — " Walters began before Keilar interrupted him.

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"Can you answer my question, please, superintendent? Do you think it would be traumatic for students to witness a raid in their school, and students forcibly removed from their school? Do you think that would be traumatic?"

Walters answered, "I think what would be traumatic is if you didn't give Trump, President Trump, the information necessary to keep families together. So, what you would prefer is to just deport the parents and have the kids have no idea what happened to their parents."

Keilar shot back, "That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking you — that's not at all what I'm asking. Superintendent, I'm asking you if you had a raid on a school and you were forcibly removing students from schools, if you think that would be traumatic for other students in the school."

Walters reiterated that he will comply with Trump's deportation agenda.

The back-and-forth continued until Keilar interjected, "Children. I'm talking about children, sir."

"The person arrested by Homeland Security as a terrorist in our school last year was a student," Walters said. "And, so, that's where it's so important to have this information, work with law enforcement. We're going to bring law and order back. It's sensible. It's common sense."

"So you'll only remove — are you saying you'll only remove children from schools if they are suspected terrorists?" Keilar asked.

"I'm saying that we're going to work with the Trump administration to enforce their anti-illegal immigration policy. That includes giving them information about students in our schools, families enrolled in our schools, so they can make the decisions on how to deport families together and how to identify criminals in our school system."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

Oklahoma now requires all public schools to teach from the Bible as 'historical' document

The State of Oklahoma appears to be poised to outdo Louisiana in its effort to inject Christianity into public schools, after a new announcement by the state's superintendent of public instruction.

On Thursday, ABC affiliate KOCO 5 News reported that Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters is now requiring all K-12 public school classrooms keep a copy of the Bible on hand, and to give it the same regard as a history textbook. The new policy is to be implemented "effective immediately."

"The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in the announcement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.”

"Adherence to this mandate is compulsory. Further instructions for monitoring and reporting on this implementation for the 2024/25 school year will be forthcoming," he added. "Immediate and strict compliance is expected."

Walters was sharply criticized in a column published in the Oklahoman for being insensitive to Benedict's death. Author Clytie Bunyan wrote that "Oklahoma Republican politicians are bent on making the state unwelcome for LGBTQ+ kids and their families."

"The loss of our student in Owasso is tragic for the family, the community, and our state," Walters stated at the time. "The LGBTQ groups pushing a false narrative are one of the biggest threats to our democracy and I remain, more than ever, committed to never backing down from a woke mob."

"If Walters can't say something with compassion after the tragic loss of a child, then he should say nothing at all," Bunyan wrote. "This is a time Walters should pause to realize he has an opportunity to lead with compassion and work with the family and the school to foster a more inclusive environment."

Click here to read KOCO's full report.