Dahm Comments on ‘Terrorist’ Remarks from Treat

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, released the following statement concerning the actions of Sen. Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, after incendiary comments he made at a press conference on Thursday. 

“Last week, Senator Treat chose to directly name myself and Senator Deevers in his weekly press conference,” Dahm said. “He then blatantly said he ‘does not negotiate with terrorists.’ When a reporter later questioned him on calling fellow Senators ‘terrorists,’ Senator Treat tried to backpedal by claiming he wasn’t calling us terrorists but was instead suggesting our ‘actions were terroristic’.” 

When asked about Senate rules, Treat was forced to admit that none of the rules had been broken and that Senators Dahm and Deevers were, in fact, operating within the Senate rules.

“To be clear, Senator Treat believes that Senators operating within the Senate Rules – but in a manner displeasing to him – is the equivalent of terroristic actions,” Dahm said. “To equate our actions with terrorism is beyond abhorrent for anyone, let alone someone who claims to be a ‘leader’ and who seemingly believes that he speaks on behalf of the Senate Republican caucus, Senate leadership, and the Senate overall. America has suffered under terrorist attacks on multiple occasions. One such attack happened right here in our state. The Oklahoma City bombing resulted in the loss of 168 lives – including 19 children. Senator Treat should be ashamed for even suggesting that following the rules is akin to terrorism. He denigrated every life lost to terrorism with his comments.” 

Treat has a history of selectively punishing what he decides in his opinion is inappropriate behavior in the Senate. For example, during his time in Senate leadership Treat has:  

-Punished Senators for refusing to vote for the largest tax increase in state history. Republicans who voted against tax increases had their bills blacklisted (interestingly enough, Treat did make an exception for certain Democrat bills). 

-Punished a member of his leadership team for commenting during a press conference that those who disagree on a certain bill must be doing so for financial gain (although the punishment meted out was the aforementioned Senator merely taking time off temporarily from leadership responsibilities during one of the slowest weeks of session).

-Punished a Senator for comments made in jest about someone outside the state of Oklahoma (the punishment was Senate staff being banned for a year from assisting or sending press releases for the Senator). 

“It remains to be seen if Senator Treat believes that calling fellow Senators ‘terrorists’ for following the rules is acceptable behavior or if it constitutes inappropriate behavior worthy of punishment,” Dahm said. “He has punished other members for far less egregious actions. At the very least, Senator Treat should issue a public apology and admission of error in the same manner he made his original despicable comments. If Senator Treat were consistent, he would prohibit Senate staff from issuing any press releases for him for at least a year, anything less than that certainly could be perceived as hypocrisy on his part.”  

Dahm concluded by saying, “Some have asked if I was surprised by Senator Treat’s comments. And my answer is that it’s certainly consistent with the ‘leadership style’ that he so proudly bragged about immediately after calling us terrorists. I’m no longer surprised by Senator Treat’s actions, no matter how disgusting his comments are to all those who have suffered and lost loved ones to actual terrorism. Senator Treat should be ashamed, but certain leadership styles apparently have no shame.” 

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For more information, contact: 

Sen. Nathan Dahm at 405-521-5551, or email Nathan.Dahm@oksenate.gov