A group of Democratic governors plans to boycott a dinner with President Donald Trump after he declined to invite all of them to the White House event.
The National Governors Association (NGA) said it would not hold a formal meeting with the president after the White House invited Republicans to what was once one of the rare bipartisan gatherings.
Now at least eighteen of the country’s 24 Democratic governors said on Tuesday they would not attend the annual dinner.
It comes after the Trump administration also moved to limit attendance to the typically bipartisan gathering scheduled for February 20.
Among those not invited were the country’s only Black governor, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
“If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” they announced in a statement.
The governors accused the president of not being committed to working across the aisle. It comes as Trump has fiercely clashed with the leaders of blue states over immigration, funding and other issues.
“At every turn, President Trump is creating chaos and division, and it is the American people who are hurting as a result,” they said.
The group included Democratic Governors Association Chair, Gov. Andy Beshear, as well as Vice Chair Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has worked with Trump in the past.
Others who vowed to boycott included top Trump-troller Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is regularly attacked by the president.
At her press briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the president’s exclusion of governors.
“It is a dinner at the White House. It’s the people’s house. It’s also the president’s home, and so he can invite whomever he wants to dinner and events here at the White House,” she said.
Leavitt encouraged those who were invited to show up but said if they don’t want to, it’s their loss.
In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Moore, who serves as NGA vice chair, said it was “particularly confusing’ why he was being excluded from the event after he led a group of Democrats and Republicans to the White House just a few weeks ago.
Asked why he believed he was being excluded, Moore said he was not trying to get inside the “president’s psyche,” but he did say it was not lost to him that he is the only Black governor left out.
“I find that to be particularly painful, considering the fact that the president is trying to exclude me from an organization that not only my peers have asked me to help to lead, but then also a place that I know I belong in,” Moore said.
Pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he was saying the president was excluding him because of the color of his skin, Moore said he could not speak to the president’s intent.
“It’s not lost to me, but I can’t speak to the president’s intent,” he responded.
