Oklahoma junior senator Markwayne Mullin said he believes former president Donald Trump can still win the 2024 presidential election, despite two state and two federal indictments.

“If you saw polling yesterday, it actually has him beating Biden pretty heavily in the electoral vote,” said Mullin.

Mullin (R-Westville) made the statement after touring an Oklahoma City business Wednesday. He told reporters he’s a friend of the former president.

“President Trump is a friend of mine, first and foremost, he’s a friend.” Mullin said.

Trump’s significance to Mullin grew on a personal level. After Trump took interest in Mullin’s son, Jim, who suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2020, Trump contacted the family weekly to check in and even traveled to California to visit.

“When someone takes a very special interest and just loves on your son, for no other reason just because he cares, that speaks volume to you as a father,” Mullin said.

Mullins’ statements came at the same time as the sentencing of ex-Proud Boys leader, Enrique Tarrio, which was postponed Wednesday due to illness of the judge. Tarrio is being sentenced in federal court for his convictions regarding his organization of the extremist group’s assault at the U.S. Capitol.

For Mullin, the case against Trump is without merit.

“You look at Georgia. They could have tried him in any county they wanted to, but they chose Fulton County. Why’d they choose Fulton County? Because President Trump got 27% of the vote. You know, do you think that really, he’s going to be able to get a fair trial there?” Mullin said.

Georgia election records show that neighboring Fulton County is Dekalb and Clayton counties, where Trump lost. The former president received only 15.7% and 14.1% of the vote respectively.

Mullin and many other far-right Republicans continue to believe the indictments are political persecution against the former president.

“DOJ could have chosen to take the trial anywhere they wanted to outside of Washington, D.C., to be able to think they could get a fair trial, but no they chose to try him there and he got 5% of the vote.” Mullin said.

Even with the legal cases against Trump, Mullin believes that Trump remains more popular than ever.

“It doesn’t mean anything to me. It means they are going after him. They’re going to continue to go after him,” Mullin said. “Look at what’s happened to him since they go after him. His popularity just continues to skyrocket.”

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News, go to GaylordNews.net.