Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) defended Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) on Sunday over his attempts to pass a bipartisan border security deal.
Former President Trump has slammed negotiation efforts by Senate Democrats and Republicans on a border security and foreign aid package, raising criticism that he wants to sink any potential deal.
“James is smart, he’s hard-working, he knows the issue. He’s on a suicide mission,” Scott said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding Lankford is fending off attacks from both parties.
“Democrats don’t want to secure the border. That’s number one. Number two is, right now this border could be secure, but we know we have a lawless administration, completely lawless Biden administration,” he said.
“So the only way this is going to happen is if we have accountability that forces Biden to enforce the law. We could change all these laws,” he added.
The exact details of the border deal are unknown, as the bill has not been released. Scott said that Lankford should distribute the bill to shore up support.
“James is doing the best he can to try to explain the bill that, unfortunately, I don’t know why they don’t share it with us,” he said. “I mean, I’d rather be for something, but we don’t get anything.”
Lankford said in a “Face the Nation” interview Sunday that the opposition was because members haven’t read the bill yet, blaming “misinformation” and “internet rumors.”
Scott also downplayed the impact Trump has on negotiations.
“He’s irrelevant to this conversation. He’s not in office,” he said.