Oklahoma governor: Abbott-Biden border standoff ‘a powder keg worth of tension’

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) said the standoff between President Biden and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) over the border is a “powder keg worth of tension.”

“This is a powder keg worth of tension,” Stitt said Thursday in an interview on Newsmax highlighted by Mediaite. “So, it’s very — it’s a very weird situation. We certainly stand with Texas on the right to defend themselves. But, Biden’s gonna be in a tough situation.”

The Texas National Guard on Tuesday appeared to disregard a recent Supreme Court decision that allows border agents to remove razor wire erected by Texas, and continued building such barriers on the southern border.

Stitt, alongside fellow Republican Govs. Kristi Noem (S.D.), Ron DeSantis (Fla.), Glenn Youngkin (Va.) and Brian Kemp (Ga.), backed Abbott in his actions.

“If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” DeSantis said on X, formerly Twitter. “TX is upholding the law while Biden is flouting it.”

Youngkin said in his own X post that the Biden administration “has turned every state into a border state.”

“Virginia stands with Texas,” Youngkin’s post read. “@GregAbbott_TX  is doing the job Joe Biden and his border czar refuse to do to secure our border.”

Some Democrats, like Reps. Joaquin Castro (Texas) and Greg Casar (Texas), have expressed their support for the nationalization of the Texas National Guard to align it with the court decision and federal law.