Trump Flat-Out Lies About Endorsing Republican Behind Border Bill
Donald Trump is furiously attempting to sink a bipartisan border and immigration package that the Senate unveiled on Sunday — so much so that he’s outright lying about having endorsed the bill’s author, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
During an interview on Monday with right-wing radio host Dan Bongino, the former president claimed that he had never endorsed Lankford, one of the chief architects and advocates for the legislation. “Just to correct the record, I did not endorse Senator Lankford, I didn’t do it,” Trump said. “He ran and I didn’t endorse him.”
Fact check: False.
Trump did in fact endorse Lankford in 2022, when the senator ran for reelection.
In a glowing statement released through his campaign titled “Endorsement of Senator James Lankford”, Trump lauded Lankford as being “strongly committed to America First, and everything it stood for, and likewise strongly committed to me, as President.”
“James Lankford is Strong on the Border,” Trump added.
The endorsement: pic.twitter.com/aSTNgWrRuq
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) February 5, 2024
Lankford addressed the comments on CNN Monday afternoon. The Senator confirmed that Trump did endorse him and stated that for Trump, chaos at the border was likely beneficial. “He has a different job than I have right now, his job right now is running for president,” Lankford said.
While the former president demands unquestionable loyalty from his sycophants, he’s known to turn on a dime whenever he perceives he’s been slighted. Trump has become personally involved in efforts to block the proposed immigration reforms, which on Monday were endorsed by the Border Patrol Union.
On Monday morning, Trump raged on Truth Social that the bill would be “a great gift to the Democrats, and a Death Wish for The Republican Party.”
“It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans,” he wrote.
As previously reported by Rolling Stone, Trump has privately complained to his advisers that in supporting the proposed legislation, “stupid” Republicans could be handing Biden a major victory in the months before the two men will almost certainly go head to head in a rematch for the presidency. House Speaker Mike Johnson admitted to Fox News in January that he and the president had been communicating directly about the bill’s future, but denied over the weekend that Trump himself was “calling the shots.”
He may not be officially in control, but it’s clear Trump knows the amount of influence his word has, whether it comes to the passage of legislation or the future careers of Republicans he puts on his shit list.
More from Rolling Stone
Trump Says America Is Over 'As We Know It' if He Can't Do Crimes While in Office
Let Trump Be Dictator for a Day, 74 Percent of Republicans Say
Ronna McDaniel, RNC Chairwoman, to Step Down Amid Pressure From Trump Allies
Best of Rolling Stone
