Republican Mullin Contests Trump's Involvement in Border Bill Failure

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin asserts that the Biden administration's refusal to negotiate with Republicans, not former President Donald Trump, led to the demise of the border security bill.

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) has vehemently disputed the notion that former President Donald Trump played a role in the failure of the border security bill, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Biden administration.

During a recent CNN appearance, Mullin challenged the suggestion that Trump had publicly and privately attempted to sabotage the bill before it even made it to the floor. He refuted anchor Manu Raju's claim that Trump lobbied Senate and House members to oppose its passage.

Republican Mullin Contests Trump's Involvement in Border Bill Failure

"Chuck Schumer didn't one time reach out to Republicans and try to talk to us. They never had a working group together—," Mullin asserted, before being interrupted by Raju.

Raju pointed to the involvement of Oklahoma's own Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), who had served as the lead GOP negotiator for the Senate border security bill. Lankford had initially urged critics to examine the bill's provisions, arguing it would establish a more efficient and robust deportation system while reversing President Biden's immigration policies.

Republican Mullin Contests Trump's Involvement in Border Bill Failure

However, Lankford later called for open discussions and expressed frustration with Democrats for "politicizing" the bill. Mullin maintained that Lankford had also voiced dissatisfaction with the lack of compromise on the Democrats' part.

"What the left media has done, including yourself, they said it's ‘The Lankford Bill.’ It wasn't the Lankford Bill. Lankford was trying to negotiate on behalf of Republicans. The Democrats not one single time tried to actually negotiate with Republicans," he emphasized.

Republican Mullin Contests Trump's Involvement in Border Bill Failure

Mullin asserted that Trump became involved only after the Biden administration declined to engage in negotiations with Republicans. "So, President Trump didn't kill it; the Biden administration killed it because they knew they wanted to try doing something because the administration has been awful on the border, and that hasn't changed," he declared.

In February, President Biden had accused Trump of sabotaging the border bill, claiming that Trump saw it as politically disadvantageous and had pressured Republicans to vote against it. "For the last 24 hours, he's done nothing, I'm told, but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal. And looks like they're caving," Biden alleged at the time.

Republican Mullin Contests Trump's Involvement in Border Bill Failure

The border bill backed by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) failed to pass test votes in both February and May. Republicans had characterized the bill as a "sham" and criticized Democrats for refusing to consider a House-backed border bill that incorporated Republican priorities, known as H.R. 2.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on Mullin's allegations.