Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) defended Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) on Sunday from attacks on all fronts, saying he knows what he’s doing by taking his border bill “on a suicide mission.”
Lankford has been harshly criticized by other Republicans for his border negotiations with Democrats, but he has hit back, saying his work has been misrepresented. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) indicated the bill will not pass in the Republican-controlled House in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Friday. As a fellow Republican senator, Scott seemingly agreed during a Fox News Sunday interview.
“James is smart, he’s hardworking, he knows the issue. He’s on a suicide mission,” Scott said. “Democrats don’t want to secure the border. That’s No. 1. No. 2 is, right now, this border could be secure, but we know we have a lawless administration, completely lawless Biden administration.”
Scott also criticized Lankford for not releasing a draft of the bill for senators to review. Johnson was able to see a draft as the speaker of the House.
“James is doing the best he can to try to explain the bill that, unfortunately, I don’t know why they don’t share it with us,” Scott said. “I mean, I’d rather be for something, but we don’t get anything.”
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Despite endorsing former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, Scott brushed off Trump’s influence on how the bill will shake out. Trump is “irrelevant to this conversation” because “he’s not in office,” according to Scott.
Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed more than 302,000 people at the U.S.-Mexico border in December. That is in addition to the over 10 million immigrants who have reportedly entered the country illegally since Biden took office last October. It is the most recorded in that amount of time of any administration.
