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Tom Cole: “I'm the only deputy whip back then.”

Featuring: Tom Cole, Republican | U.S. House Oklahoma, 4th Congressional District

The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK

Published June 30, 2026 | Video Starts at 17:03

Well, only for the first two years. Okay. Because in 2006, as you alluded to in our previous conversation, you know, Boehner and Blunt run against one another. Yeah. I'm the only deputy whip back then. Becoming a deputy whip was a big deal. Yeah. And I was my second term. I'm the only person in our class, which was a big class. (17:03–17:06)

CLAIM

Asserts that Tom Cole was the only deputy whip at that time.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Tom Cole

“J.C. Watts, who is one of the best natural politicians I ever met. Only the second African American Republican elected in the 20th century.”
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“In 2000, first time in 48 years, Republican Party wins the presidency, the Senate and the house.”
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“There were about 160 seats in the country that were decided within five points one way or the other. Today there's maybe 40.”
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“My mother had become a political activist. She grew up in a Democratic family in a Democratic state.”
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“Her grandfather had been the last elected treasurer of the Chickasaw Nation before Dawes Commission in Oklahoma statehood.”
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“His father had been an elected supreme court clerk, tribal supreme court clerk.”
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“I was in London on a Fulbright fellowship.”
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“I was teaching European history courses at the University of Oklahoma.”
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“I went to a little state party sponsored campaign manager school for two days.”
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“I put together a campaign and she won that time.”
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“I was a pretty Decent football player. D3, not serious football.”
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“I got a call from the state party chairman going into the 1980 campaign.”
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“He said, will you take a year out of academic life and come and be the executive director of the state party?”
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“Congressman Mickey Edwards, who became the fourth ranking leader in the Republican Party, was the only Republican congressman in Oklahoma at…”
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“We picked up a governor's race for the first time in 20 years.”
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“We picked up a second congressional seat with Jim Inhofe.”
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“We had the most successful election in America if you were a Republican in 86.”
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“State senate at that time was the most expensive state senate race in Oklahoma history.”
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“The primary was in July.”
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“It was a targeted NRC race.”
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“Nobody else made it before their fourth term.”
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“In 06, I ran for NRCC chair.”
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“I chaired two dues drives for the NRCC along with Kevin Brady.”
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“We hadn't gotten a big bill out in five years [from the Labor Health and Human Services subcommittee].”
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“We both like biomedical research, you know, so we can do that.”
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“We both liked early childhood, which is a really good investment for the country to make.”
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“We both like to do things for first generation college kids because I think that changes the whole trajectory of a family.”
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“I'm a pro life Republican. We're not going to agree on abortion.”
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“I'm a Second Amendment, you know, classic kind of Republican.”
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“I push the decision making down to my cardinals, like so subcommittee Chairman, I got 12 of them.”
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“When I won in 2002. Right next door is Arkansas. Three of the four House members were Democrats. Both senators were Democrats, very…”
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“When I got here, Connecticut, where Rosa was from, five members, three were Republicans. They're all gone now. And it's unthinkable a…”
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“The blue places in the country have gotten bluer, the red places have gotten redder and partisan alignment.”
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“Today we have 48 senators in Oklahoma. 41 of them are Republicans.”
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“We lose the majority in 2006. Re. You know, regain it in 2010.”
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