JUST IN: Lankford on Meet the Press — ‘We’re Watching, As Americans, Scenes of Burning Cars… Concrete Blocks Thrown At Federal Law Enforcement… What President Trump Is Trying To Do Is Pretty Clear — He’s Trying To De-Escalate.’

Click HERE to Watch the Interview on YouTube.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined NBC’s Meet the Press this morning to discuss the riot in Los Angeles, the grand jury indictment ofAbrego Garciafor human smuggling, his recent congressional delegation (CODEL) to the Middle East, his push to stop looming tax hikes, and the need to make President Trump’s tax cuts permanent.

Excerpts:

On the riots in Los Angeles:

“We’re watching, as Americans, scenes of burning cars in intersections… concrete blocks being thrown at federal law enforcement… What President Trump is trying to do is pretty clear — he’s trying to de-escalate all the tensions that are there.”

“We’re not going to allow this to spiral out of control. This is an American city… people literally flying Mexican flags and saying, ‘You cannot arrest us’ — cannot be allowed.”

On Abrego Garcia:

“A federal grand jury has now indicted him. He has been returned under the indictment of a federal grand jury for human smuggling, and he will face those charges… that is the justice system working through the process.”

On the One Big Beautiful Bill:

“We’re trying to fight to make sure [taxes] don’t go up on every single American… Only in Washington is that called a giant tax decrease when you’re trying to be able to keep them the same… This is the first step in a long process to be able to get our budget back under control.”

On His Recent CODEL to the Middle East and the situation in Gaza:

“There are two million people there, many of them civilians that are totally innocent, had nothing to do with Hamas… It is important on the humanitarian side… but it’s important also that Hamas cannot run Gaza, and we cannot have terrorists living right there.”

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