WATCH: GOP Oklahoma Gov. Squirms As Fox News’ Shannon Bream Grills Him About Corruption Allegations

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) squirmed when Fox News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream grilled him about several corruption allegations against him as he faces a tough reelection battle.

(Note: At the beginning of the segment, Bream said that there was a slight delay, which is presumably why Stitt can be seen pausing for a few moments before answering her questions.)

Bream asked Stitt about his Democratic opponent, Joy Hofmeister, a former Republican who has made accusations that Stitt is too extreme, playing a video of Hofmeister saying that Stitt had “hijacked the Republican Party” and was “driving our state into the ground,” while calling herself “aggressively moderate.”

“She said that you’ve pulled the party too far to the right,” said Bream after the Hofmeister clip, “and others have made Republican party a place she cannot stay anymore, your response?”

Stitt replied “if believing in traditional family values” and “smaller government, lower taxes, and deregulation” is “pulling too far the right, then I do not see it,” arguing that Oklahomans agreed with him and the GOP. He took a few swipes at the Democrats over inflation and gas prices, and said Hofmeister “couldn’t see a path forward for herself” and that’s why she switched parties.

Bream then asked Stitt about “one of the most well-loved, well-known Oklahomans out there,” former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), endorsing Hofmeister, and brought up a clip from an ad featuring him.

“I was a Republican then and I’m a Republican now,” said Watts, a former quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, in the ad. “And friends, I’m voting for Joy Hofmeister. “All this scandal and corruption is just too much.”

Bream said she wanted to give Stitt “a chance to respond to some of these accusations of corruption and scandal,” listing off a federal audit that found that the state had “mishandled $31 million in Covid money,” a criminal investigation into state contracts with a barbecue restaurant, and an accusation from Hofmeister that he had funneled taxpayer subsidy benefits into his own businesses.

Stitt responded with a non-response, telling Bream that “Oklahomans are too smart” and complaining about special interest money “trying to buy this election for my opponent.”

“But, Governor,” interjected Bream, “and I’m sorry, it will take a second — I need to interrupt you here because I want to make sure you answer those, that was a federal audit, there’s a state investigation, and then the accusations about your business — if you could quickly give us specific responses to those accusations.”

Here is the full transcript of Stitt’s response:

Yes, here’s the deal. I mean, I’m so proud, I started my company with $1,000 and a computer shortly after college and we’ve grown that, we have over 1,000 employees today.

So long before I became governor, you know, we have some quality jobs programs with 600, 700 other companies. And so that was put in place long before I even ran for governor, and so twisting the truth with something that our company and the private sector got in place long before I was governor, along with every other company that qualifies in the state of Oklahoma, is just nonsense and Oklahomans can see right through it.

Whether or not that actually was a sufficient explanation regarding the accusations regarding Stitt’s company, we’ll leave to our readers to determine for themselves, but Stitt did not provide a reply to Bream’s questions about the federal audit or state criminal investigation.

Alas, the segment ended. Bream thanked Stitt for his time and he thanked her for having him on the show.

Real Clear Politics ranks the Oklahoma governors’ contest as “Toss Up.” Looking over the polls for this race in September and October, there’s an Emerson poll that seems to be an outlier that had Stitt up 9, but six other polls show the race within the margin of error, with half showing Stitt with a single-digit lead and the other half showing Hofmeister with a single-digit lead.

Watch above via Fox News.