Lankford had planned to object to President-elect Joe Biden's win but changed his mind following the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead. He sent a letter to "My friends in North Tulsa" on Thursday.

The letter said the senator's actions "caused a firestorm of suspicion among many of my friends, particularly in Black communities around the state. I was completely blindsided, but I also found a blind spot."

"What I did not realize was all of the national conversation about states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, was seen as casting doubt on the validity of votes coming out of predominantly Black communities like Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Detroit," Lankford's letter went on.

"After decades of fighting for voting rights, many Black friends in Oklahoma saw this as a direct attack on their right to vote, for their vote to matter, and even a belief that their votes made an election in our country illegitimate."