Sen. James Lankford cited President Trump’s Twitter and some of his other harsh remarks as the reason he doesn’t see the president as a role model for children.
The Oklahoma Republican was asked why there is not a louder call for moral leadership from Trump during a Sunday interview on Face the Nation. Lankford, 51, maintained the position he held during the 2016 election that he did not see Trump to be a role model “as a person,” despite supporting some of his policies as president.
“I said very early on in the campaign time period when people asked me in 2016, ‘What are you looking for?’ I said, ‘I always look for a president who can be a role model.’ I don’t think President Trump, as a person, is a role model for a lot of different youth,” Lankford said.
He added, “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 claimed it has been a “grand challenge” in his faith to navigate Trump’s personal failings with his policy successes. The senator touted Trump’s work for anti-abortion causes but acknowledged that he wished the president were “more of a role model.”
