GOP Senator on Trump’s Behavior: ‘Definitely Not the Way I’m Raising My Kids’

GOP Senator on Trump’s Behavior: ‘Definitely Not the Way I’m Raising My Kids’

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said Sunday on Face the Nation that President Trump’s behavior should not be emulated by today’s youth, but added that he admired the president for his pro-life policy decisions.

In a discussion about religion alongside Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Lankford, a Baptist, explained how “it’s a bit of a conundrum” at times trying to reconcile Trump’s character with his own faith.

“I don’t think that President Trump as a person is a role model for a lot of different youth,” Lankford admitted when asked by Margaret Brennan why Republicans have not been as vocal about moral leadership during the Trump impeachment as they were during the Clinton impeachment.

“I don’t like the way that he tweets, some of the things that he says. His word choices at times are not my word choices. He comes across with more New York City swagger than I do from the Midwest. That’s definitely not the way that I’m raising my kids.”

Lankford then said that he is “not the president’s spokesperson,” implying that he was willing to put up with this because Trump, he says, has been “tenaciously pro-life.”

“He’s focused on putting people around him that are very focused on religious liberty — not honoring a particular faith, but honoring any person of any faith to go be able to live and practice that faith and to have respect for that,” Lankford explained.

“At the end of the day, what we’re really looking for in an administration are folks that allow us to be able to live our principles.”

Watch the video above, via CBS.

William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt is a writer and editor from New Hampshire whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Progressive, Slate and Areo Magazine, among other places. He holds a BA in Political Science and History from Boston University.

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