OPINION:
Note to reader: If you are tempted to skip past this op-ed because you think it is not about you, you are wrong.
Remember the lesson of the canary in the coal mine: Poisonous gas is never localized. It is pervasive. It spreads. Another way to say it is that the old commercial “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” is a lie.
What just killed the little bird in his small cage is very likely going to kill you and your neighbor if you do not pay attention and reverse course immediately! So, reader beware. If a political charlatan such as Gentner Drummond can get elected in a “red state” such as Oklahoma, the next shoe to fall will be in your own backyard.
Who is Gentner Drummond? In almost every way, he is the poster child of what we should be calling our nation’s “trans-Republican movement,” for this is a man who politically “identifies” as something he most assuredly is not.
To prove the point, here are just a few high (or low?) points of Mr. Drummond’s resume.
First, Gentner Drummond has given thousands of dollars to numerous left-wing Democrats. He not only gave money to Joseph R. Biden to defeat Donald Trump but also supported efforts to unseat noted conservatives, such as Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe, and Rep. Jim Bridenstine.
The Federal Election Commission confirms that at least 11 liberal Democrats have received financial support from Mr. Drummond over the years, including but not limited to one queer activist by the name of Chris Brecht, who ran to become an Oklahoma district judge.
Second, in 2022, Mr. Drummond, upon becoming attorney general of the state of Oklahoma, immediately made it a top priority to join with the ultraliberal Freedom from Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union to file suit seeking to deny the people of Oklahoma their right to choose a board-approved charter school for their children.
Why? Because the charter school in question happened to be named St. Isidore’s and is Catholic. So much for Oklahomans’ religious freedom to choose a school consistent with their faith and values.
Third, after becoming Oklahoma’s attorney general, Mr. Drummond rushed to advance a highly questionable “environmentalist” lawsuit against the state’s poultry industry, which, according to the Oklahoma Poultry Federation, risks putting thousands of small family farms and ranches out of business.
The supposed problem: These good people want to use the natural product of chicken manure to fertilize their fields.
If you think that sounds counterintuitive to sound “environmentalism,” you are right.
Fourth, Gentner Drummond, despite hailing from one of the state’s most prominent ranching families, is not even endorsed by the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. In fact, the OCA has officially “rescinded and voided” a January 2025 political endorsement of Mr. Drummond for Oklahoma governor because of its “significant concerns.”
Such organizations do not do such things lightly or for no good reason.
Fifth, Oklahoma’s Blue Sky Bank, under Gentner Drummond’s ownership and direction, bankrolls the state’s out-of-control and insipid marijuana industry. It should be noted that Blue Sky Bank made this decision while other banks in the state chose not to do the same. This is not something Mr. Drummond was required to do. He could have done otherwise out of principle, but that assumes something that may not exist.
Sixth, Mr. Drummond is on record stating that he supports illegal aliens staying in Oklahoma if they obey the law. That is an oxymoron if there ever was one; does Mr. Drummond not see the self-refuting nature of such a claim?
Seventh, Mr. Drummond recently rushed to the microphone to endorse a candidate for Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction who has publicly embraced the agenda of diversity, equity and inclusion. Why would any conservative worth his salt do this?
The list could go on and on. In addition to giving money to Mr. Biden and aligning himself with radicals such as the ACLU, Gentner Drummond recently chose a church of the same denomination as that of Texas’ Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico as the location and backdrop for a campaign commercial supposedly highlighting his Christian faith.
Keep in mind that Mr. Talarico is the man of “six different genders” and “God is nonbinary” fame.
There is a reason Democrats from across the state are lining up to support Gentner Drummond, while President Trump, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Rep. Josh Brecheen, state senators, representatives and county commissioners are rallying around his opponent, Mike Mazzei.
The reason is pretty clear: When Mr. Mazzei says he is a conservative Republican, he is telling the truth. When Gentner Drummond claims the same, he is not.
Calling yourself something does not make it so. Some people are no more real Republicans than Lia Thomas is a real woman. Why would any free people want to be governed by men who refuse to tell the truth about who they are?
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.
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