(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was slammed by commentators on Sunday after he seemed to downplay left-wing violence, even after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed in broad daylight while addressing a crowd of young supporters.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Lankford offered a “both sides” take on the issue and even took time to highlight white extremism.
He made these comments in response to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s pledge to hold those promoting violence against conservatives accountable.
“We need to be careful in how we talk about this,” he began. “Whether it is talking about white nationalists and preparing to be able to attack and to be able to carry out an attack, or to somebody like a Timothy McVeigh that hated the government intensely, and in my state 30 years ago, murdered 168 people in Oklahoma City, or whether it is a leftist group that is interested in actually attacking a pro-life center that we saw several years ago, or whether it’s carrying out some other act of terrorism or trying to be able to intimidate people.”
Sen Lankford is asked to respond to Stephen Miller’s comments about law enforcement aggressively pursuing leftwing organizations that foment violence.
He immediately goes into “both sides” mode and leads off his reply talking about white supremacy. pic.twitter.com/sK1qPsZBqU
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 14, 2025
The Oklahoma senator said the law should apply equally to anyone threatening violence.
“We have freedom of speech, you do not have the freedom to be able to plan, prepare, and carry out an attack against another American, no matter what your ideology,” he added.
On X, critics slammed Lankford for his measured remarks, particularly on the eve of Kirk’s murder, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, reportedly carried out by an unhinged individual motivated by political ideology.
“Name a more useless politician than James Lankford,” wrote Article III Project attorney Will Chamberlain.
Meanwhile, Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz noted that Republicans are increasingly the targets of political violence.
“The violence is only going in one direction,” he wrote. “It was the Republican presidential candidate that was nearly assassinated twice, it was a conservative thought leader, Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down in broad daylight for his political beliefs, it is conservative Supreme Court justices who have to bulk up on security. It’s one direction.”
Bruesewitz said that “every Republican elected official must wake up to that fact.”
Journalist Eric Daugherty echoed this sentiment, adding: “I guess it’s ‘business as usual’ moving forward for spineless Rs.”
