GOP governor of red state picks a fight with Trump on two policies: 'That's un-American'

Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) took yet another stand against President Donald Trump during an NPR interview published on Thursday, questioning the wisdom of his mass deportation policies.

"The president needs to tell us what's the endgame. Is it truly to deport every single person here in the country? I don't think that's what America wants," said Stitt, a member of the Cherokee Nation and one of a small handful of Native Americans to have ever served as a governor. He argued immigrants who are not committing crimes and working in their communities should be given legal status.

Immigration was not Stitt's only gripe in the NPR interview. He also took Trump to task for declaring war on renewable energy, including his move to shut down an offshore wind installation in New England that was already almost finished.

"They did everything right," said Stitt. "They've been working on it for eight years. They have all their permits. They're 90% complete, and they just get the plug pulled on them — that is by the administration. That's un-American. We cannot be a pendulum swing where we are going back and forth and we're killing different projects based on our political views."

Stitt was originally elected as a far-right governor, defeating a more moderate candidate in his primary; however, since Trump has returned to office, he has carved his own political path, growing more emboldened to criticize the president.

Earlier this year, he slammed Trump's move to send a surge of National Guard troops to Chicago, telling The New York Times, "We believe in the federalist system — that's states' rights" and that Oklahomans "would lose their mind" if troops from Illinois were sent to their state. As chair of the National Governors Association, Stitt also drew canceled the group's annual meeting after Trump moved to exclude Democrats from the traditionally bipartisan gathering, which enraged the president.

"The RINO Governor of the Great State of Oklahoma, in which I won all 77 Counties, three times (The only person to do so!), incorrectly stated my position on the very exclusive Governors Annual Dinner and Meeting at the White House," Trump posted to Truth Social in response to that decision. "The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there" — those being the governors of Colorado and Maryland, two Democrats.