Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has broken ranks with fellow Republicans by publicly questioning Texas' decision to send National Guard troops to Illinois. "We believe in the federalist system—that's states' rights," Stitt said in an interview with the New York Times. "Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration." Stitt is chairman of the National Governors Association, but he said his remarks were his own views, not the bipartisan organization's official policy. "The NGA is an educational organization under IRS code," he said. "And so we're not going to be weighing into the politics. That's not our lane."
The tension stems from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to send troops to support federal agents in Chicago, a move Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other Democrats have strongly condemned. Stitt told the Times he was surprised by Abbott's move. "Abbott and I sued the Biden administration when the shoe was on the other foot and the Biden administration was trying to force us to vaccinate all of our soldiers and force masks across the country." A federal judge temporarily blocked the Illinois deployment on Thursday, saying the Founding Fathers "would never believe that it would ever come to pass that one state militia could be sent to another state for the purposes of political retribution."
Stitt is the first GOP governor to speak out against the deployment, Politico reports. He said he backs President Trump's focus on law and order but he is worried about the precedent that is being set. He hinted that other Republican governors might share his concerns, but haven't voiced them. Stitt said he has a good relationship with Abbott and while he hasn't discussed the deployment with him yet, he's "sure it will come up" on Saturday when both governors are in Dallas for a football game. The Oklahoma Sooners will play the Texas Longhorns in the 121st annual Red River Rivalry game.
story continues below
.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
