Treat says Stitt has “personal hatred” for him

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat said he believes Governor Kevin Stitt has a “personal hatred” of him after Stitt vetoed several bills sent top his desk by the Senate this week.

Treat (R-Oklahoma City) made the comments during a weekly press conference he held on Thursday.

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At the news conference, reporters asked Treat what he thought about the fact Stitt vetoed several bills the Senate him to sign. That included the Oklahoma Survivors’ Act, which would allow for more lenient sentencing for domestic violence victims convicted of crimes against their abusers.

“There seems to be a pattern emerging,” Treat said. “And my grandmother used to have a phrase that said ‘even hypochondriacs get sick every once in a while.’ So I may just be paranoid, but I believe where there’s paranoia, sometimes there’s a real reason for it. Last year, [Stitt] vetoed arbitrarily about 20 of our bills, and it caused us to pull in the rules and deny a couple of his executive appointments. It seems like he may be headed down that same wrongheaded path. But we’ll watch and see and make sure he’s doing it on the merits of his disagreement on policy and not just trying to target myself or the Senate at large. It seems like he’s also targeting AG Drummond and a lot of his vetoes. And so I just want to serve. Notice that we’re watching you.”

Treat did not hold back when reporters asked him why he believed Stitt is targeting him.

“I think it’s a personal hatred of me,” Treat said. “I personally think the governor is a very gregarious, likable guy when you’re around him. I don’t like the way he’s operating in this building. I don’t think he has treated me or the Senate fairly or equally.”

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Treat said Stitt has not spoken to him in quite a while, and the last time they saw each other in-person was at the Governor’s State-of-the-State address earlier this year.

“I used to enjoy being around him, but he’s cut off all communication,” Treat said.

Stitt responded to Treat’s comments at a press conference of his own on Friday.

Reporters asked Stitt ‘do you have a personal hatred for the Pro Tem?’

“Not at all,” Stitt responded. “I’m trying to make Oklahoma top ten state and we believe in limited government, lower taxes and I mean if we have disagreements with each other, apparently it’s around, you know, should we cut taxes or not… But no, I have no ill feelings towards him or anybody in this building.”

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Stitt said his vetoes had nothing to do with his relationship with Treat.

“If I veto a bill, it’s because it’s not good policy,” Stitt said.

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