Oklahoma GOP Chairman says party must follow censure rules amid frustration over Sen. Lankford

Oklahoma GOP Chairman and state Sen. Nathan Dahm said that while people are upset over Sen. James Lankford's border negotiations, the party has to follow censure rules.

"As Republicans, we're supposed to follow the rules," Dahm said on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "We believe in the rule of law, whether that's party rules or the constitution. So there are people that are very upset about the negotiations that are taking place. We still haven't seen the final outcome of what this deal might be. But people are very upset about it, because we are being invaded by the policies of this Biden regime."

Oklahoma Republicans have criticized GOP Sen. Lankford over what they call his "Open Border Deal" with New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer that would reportedly allow 5,000 illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. daily.

Lankford has urged critics "not to believe everything" they read on the Internet regarding the alleged deal.

Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Republican Party voted to censure Lankford during a state Committee meeting, but Dahm explained that the vote was not legitimate.

"There was a meeting that was held, but it was illegitimate because they didn't follow the GOP party rules and the proper procedure for calling for a meeting," he said. "They didn't invite over 100 elected officials, including the governor, and the entire House and Senate. They didn't give the opportunity for all people to be involved in that."

"People are upset," Dahm also said. "But I'm just as chairman saying, 'I get that. I hear your frustrations, but we still have to follow the rules. We can't evolve into the party of the left where the ends justify the means.'"

The southern border crisis has been a massive issue for Republicans in Congress as thousands of migrants have been reported to be flooding across the U.S.-Mexico border daily. 

The Homeland Security Department revealed last year that the backlog of tracking and vetting illegal aliens inside the U.S. had nearly doubled under Biden, to over six million, while arrests of suspected terrorists and violent offenders also exploded.

Dahm said that it is up to the grassroots activists to pick the best conservative candidate to run for office in the primary and then the party does work from there. 

"In our GOP rules, we can't get involved in the primaries," he said. "That's not the role of the party. That's the role of the grassroots and of the activists and of other organizations to get in there and make sure that we get the most conservative candidate through the primary so that they can actually be the nominee in November."

Election integrity is also a big concern of the Republican Party, and Dahm said he believes Oklahoma's elections are pretty solid. 

"We have some of the best in the country," he said. "I would say we're at an 'A' but with my role as a state senator, I've worked to improve it. For instance, I'm trying to make it to where all of our ballots have to have a special watermark on them just to add that extra layer of security."