Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is an unconventional leading ally for President Donald Trump. As Trump prepared to return to Washington, plenty of Republicans with higher profiles and deeper pockets were jockeying to be his congressional facilitator-in-chief.
To understand Mullin’s rise from congressman to senator to Trump confidant, it must be recognized this isn’t a relationship built on politics — rather one forged in the deeply personal throes of a tragedy deferred.
In early 2020, Mullin’s 15-year-old son, Jim, suffered a life-threatening blow to the head while wrestling, his pulse faint as paramedics airlifted him to a Tulsa hospital. When Trump ...