Gov. Stitt to Newsmax: Texas Dems 'Better Not Come to Oklahoma'

Oklahoma GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt told Newsmax on Monday that Texas Democrats are "trying to take their ball and go home" when it comes to redistricting legislation and warned that "Americans are so frustrated" with this behavior.

A group of 13 Texas House Democrats last week left the state before a vote could take place on a Republican-led plan to redraw congressional districts, which the Democrats claimed was an attempt at gerrymandering, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to order their arrest and request that the state Supreme Court expel them from the Texas Legislature.

Stitt said on "Wake Up America" that the decision to flee the state ahead of a vote on redistricting was "just disappointing," adding that Democrats are "trying to take their ball and go home. They're hiding out in other states. They better not come to Oklahoma or … I’ll help Gov. Abbott bring them back to Austin, to their Capitol."

He added, "Americans are so frustrated with politics … because they see this stuff happening and they're not doing their job. And that's I think what Gov. Abbott's trying to make sure that we get done."

During the interview, the governor also promoted the Make Oklahoma Healthy Again initiative that recently launched in his state, saying, "It's nonpolitical. It's something we can all agree on."

Stitt praised Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. for "doing a really good job of promoting health" with his push to eliminate processed food and artificial additives, as well as the movement to ban SNAP benefits from being used to purchase "candy and confectionery items."

He said, "I just love the idea of let's get back to our roots, let's go to farmers market, let's eat healthy. I think other countries do this better than we do. We have a lot of packaged, you know, ready to eat meals, and we need to get back to the basics of cooking at home, being together as a family. And I think those are things that we can all agree on as Americans."

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