What’s worse, an Oklahoma public official that spreads misinformation or one lacking compassion?

I can’t decide which Oklahoman should win top prize for biggest disconnect with reality. 

Should it go to our former U.S. senator-turned-Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin, or to lame duck Gov. Kevin Stitt?

In one corner of the ring, we have Mullin, a former MMA fighter, who had the gall to threaten to prosecute elections officials who refuse to “participate in securing the elections” ahead of November’s general election. His bullying came just hours after his boss, U.S. President Donald Trump, gave an unhinged speech designed to implant distrust in the security of our nation’s democratic elections by suggesting that we’re vulnerable to foreign cyberattacks and meddling.

In the other corner sits Stitt, who – during an interview with Oklahoma Voice’s sister outlet, Stateline – suggested that maybe we need to return to a time not so long ago when poor people were stigmatized for needing help feeding their hungry families. He also had the gall to suggest that churches, food banks and other charities, not the state and federal government, should bear the burden of ensuring Oklahomans are fed.

Holy guacamole, Batman. I’m so torn.

Is it worse to spread misinformation about the outcomes of our elections and threaten to imprison the very folks who are doing their best to make sure our election system functions without interference? 

Or is it a bigger sin to show so little empathy for the least among us and to demonstrate that you have a blind spot a mile wide about the realities of poverty that continue to grip every corner of this state?

Maybe it’s a tie: both of these Republican standouts are equally appalling.

In his prime time address, Trump vaguely suggested that Oklahoma was among states that had voter rolls “compromised” by supporters of the Chinese government four years ago, NPR-affiliate KOSU reported. That’s based on a document released by the federal government claims that someone affiliated with the Chinese government downloaded Oklahomans’ voter information from a commercial website. Trump cited that as a reason that states need to strengthen election security.

Even as Mullin was threatening to prosecute election officials, our state’s top election leader argued China didn’t obtain their records from Oklahoma’s own database. The Chinese government actor accessed them from a commercial site — that means a business independent of the state Election Board.

For the record, China probably couldn’t do much with that information anyhow other than annoy us with more useless mailers promoting candidates. 

You know why? That information is already publicly available, and it’s why you already get so much political junk mail as it is, so who is to say which are from foreign meddlers versus campaigns or dark money PACs?

But Mullin bizarrely insists that foreign adversaries can “change voter registration and your vote.”

That’s wrong.

So what if they get my information? They can’t vote with it because we require voter identification. They can’t tamper with my ballots because we use paper ones, which allows for recounting. If someone changes my voter registration, I receive a card in the mail reflecting that. Our voting machines don’t link to the internet, so they can’t hack them to mess with the outcomes. We also allow candidates to audit the results.

In short, running elections is one of the things Oklahoma does best, despite Mullin’s insinuations to the contrary.

Mullin, as it turns out, is also concerned about noncitizen votes canceling out those of Americans. Noncitizens are barred from voting in Oklahoma, just like they are in federal elections nationwide. 

Yet we’ve got a trusted official, hailing from our state, spouting rubbish and misinformation that’s designed to stoke fear in November’s election outcomes.

What Mullin should be doing is raising the alarm about the fact that about 1 in 5 Oklahoma voters couldn’t even exercise their right to vote for candidates in our primary elections this year. Why isn’t Mullin worried about the fact that our legislators are disenfranchising independent voters by holding closed primaries? Talk about canceling out votes.

But then we’ve got Stitt, who is yet again proving that he has no compassion for struggling Oklahoma families and no grasp of how congressional changes to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, are affecting them. Among the changes to the federal program: New eligibility standards, work requirements and penalties for states that overpay and underpay food stamp recipients.

Stateline reported four million Americans have already lost access to their food benefits, which has increased pressure on food banks.

Yet Stitt insists that “nobody’s going to go hungry in Oklahoma” 

“…I can assure you people were eating, getting married, graduating from high school before we even had anything called SNAP benefits,” he said.

Again, pesky facts get in the way of Republican rhetoric: People are going hungry in Oklahoma.

In fact, the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma reports that 14.5% of Oklahomans are food insecure, meaning they’re not sure where their next meal is coming from. We’re only 1 of 5 states that has a rate that high.

Still, Stitt insists churches and food banks and other entities will fill the gap.

With what?

Is Stitt suggesting the Legislature begin funding these programs. These charities are not boundless founts. They rely on the generosity of donors to survive, and they’re supposed to be safety net programs, not permanent replacements for federal and state programs that our tax dollars are paying for to help lift people out of poverty. 

In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 14.9% of Oklahomans were impoverished — well above the national rate of 12.1%.

One wonders if perhaps Stitt would have more empathy if he or his children were going hungry, or if he truly understood how the federal programs work and the role that nonprofits play in this state.

So, which man is more deserving of the prize? I don’t know.

I do know that neither of these men currently is a living embodiment of the Oklahoma Standard. That philosophy – born in 1995 during the response to the Oklahoma City bombing – is supposed to promote a “culture of caring citizens” who embrace the pillars of honor, kindness and service. 

So here’s hoping moving forward that both Mullin and Stitt remember what they’re supposed to stand for.

Honor, kindness and service go a long way toward making this world a better place.