By AFRO Staff
Wes Moore, the nation’s only Black governor, has been snubbed by the White House, after President Trump disinvited the Maryland governor from the upcoming National Governors Association dinner, an annual bipartisan gathering of leaders hosted by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The Democratic leader, who serves as vice chair of the National Governors Association (NGA), deemed the decision “another example of blatant disrespect” by the 47th president that seems to bear racial undertones.
“As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight — whether that was the intent or not,” Moore said in a statement.
He further said Trump’s decision was “especially confounding” since just recently he visited the White House with a bipartisan delegation of governors to work with the administration on reforms to lower energy costs and strengthen grid reliability.
“We proved in that moment what’s possible when we stay focused on outcomes over politics,” he said.
Denver Gov. Jared Polis (D) also was excluded from the dinner. But in another departure from tradition, Trump decided that the winter meeting between the NGA and White House would only include Republican governors.
“We are disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year,” interim National Governors Association CEO Brandon Tatum said in a statement.
He added: “To disinvite individual governors to the White House sessions undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration.”
Moore, the nation’s third Black governor (L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts preceded him), has butted heads with Trump over his immigration policies and his decision to deploy the National Guard into Democratic-run cities to “combat crime.” Moore is also one of the Democratic governors who is pursuing redistricting in response to Trump’s prompting of Republican-led states to redraw their district maps to give the GOP an advantage in the midterm elections.
In a statement to Politico, the White House would not specify why Moore and Polis were specifically targeted.
“Many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House, and others were not,” a White House official told POLITICO. “These are White House events and the President reserves the right to invite whomever he wants.”
For his part, Moore said he is willing to work with the White House for the good of his constituents despite the differences of opinion and this most recent snub–but he’s not going to cave into presidential pressure in the process.
“My approach will never change: I’m ready to work with the administration anywhere we can deliver results,” he said. “Yet, I promised the people of my state I will work with anybody but will bow down to nobody. And I guess the President doesn’t like that.”