Kevin Stitt has urged Donald Trump to be nicer as the Republican Party takes stock of heavy election losses and considers a change of course ahead of 2028.
The outgoing Oklahoma governor said voters were “just kind of tired” after Republicans suffered defeats across the country, arguing that greater civility from the president could help restore confidence in the party.
“President Trump’s policies are amazing, and he does a really good job on a lot of fronts, but the civility and then just trying to be nice to people, I think would go a long way,” Mr Stitt said.
Mr Stitt, who is term-limited and plans to return to the private sector next year, is among prominent Republicans calling on the president and congressional leaders to reflect on the results.
He said the party needed to improve not only its messaging but also its record in government. “Our leadership matters, the way we conduct ourselves matters,” he said. “The American people wanted something different, and I think in two years we’ll see what happens.”
Republican Party urged to change direction
Mr Stitt described the results as worse than the “butt whipping” he had used to characterise the party’s performance the previous year.
“It was pretty bad,” he said, while adding that the outcome was “not the end of the world”. The result showed that Americans were “not as partisan as we think”, he said, because voters could swing between the two parties.
He said the defeat of Texas Governor Greg Abbott was particularly surprising, describing him as “such a good guy” and “a great governor for Texas”.
Mr Stitt attributed the losses to public frustration over the cost of living, political self-dealing and government spending. He said voters saw politicians entering Congress and becoming wealthy, while government contracts went to large businesses.
“People are just really, really cranky right now,” he said, pointing to high diesel prices and the rising cost of goods. He called for renewed attention to spending and the national debt, saying the country was spending $2 trillion and that both Republicans and Democrats had treated spending as though it were unlimited.
The governor also backed permitting reform, arguing that excessive regulation was holding back private-sector development and contributing to high gas prices. He said new gas-processing pipelines could take eight years to build.
Stitt criticises political investigations
Mr Stitt also criticised the use of the Department of Justice against political opponents, describing it as “Third World country stuff”.
He said Republicans should not repeat tactics he associated with the Biden administration, including investigations and legal action against Mr Trump, and warned Democrats against pursuing similar measures if they returned to power.
“We have got to stop that,” he said. “When the Democrats are in power, if they try to start impeaching Trump again and try weaponizing and investigating instead of leading, I think the American people are going to be frustrated in two years again.”
Mr Stitt has previously clashed with Mr Trump. In February, the president called him a “RINO” and a “wiseguy” during a dispute over the annual National Governors Association gathering at the White House. The pair later appeared to repair relations after meeting in March.
Asked whether Mr Trump had been nice to him, Mr Stitt laughed before saying: “I’ve always gotten along with President Trump. He’s always been good to me.”
He added that the president was a fighter and faced constant attacks, but said that “just a little more decorum” could encourage people to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Call for bipartisan immigration reform
Mr Stitt said immigration reform offered an opportunity for the Trump administration to work with Democrats in Congress.
He argued that Mr Trump had the credibility to pursue a broader immigration policy because he had secured the border following what he called the Biden administration’s “disaster”. The goal, he said, should include creating a workforce permit system to meet labour needs.
Mr Stitt said immigration enforcement might have contributed to the election result, but that voters’ concerns were broader than a single issue. He supported removing violent criminals, while objecting to cases involving people who had lived in the United States for much of their lives and contributed to their communities.
He cited an Oklahoma case involving a man who had arrived from Vietnam at the age of eight, worked for a company that supported him and had a marijuana charge from 20 years ago that was later expunged by the state. The man was deported despite having a wife and two children, Mr Stitt said.
“That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t make sense to the average person,” he said, arguing that the Republican Party should focus on civility, statesmanship and policy debate.
“We’re all Americans,” Mr Stitt said. “We can disagree better. We can disagree with one another on policy, but let’s start debating the policy, like our founders talked about.”
