Eighteen Democratic governors are refusing to attend a dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump next week, after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis were uninvited.
“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,” read the statement from the governors, issued Tuesday afternoon by the Democratic Governors Association. “Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.”
The nation’s governors are expected in Washington, D.C., next week for a meeting of the bipartisan National Governors Association. The events include a meeting with the White House, as well as a formal dinner.
Moore and Polis were not invited to the dinner. Over the weekend, the White House would not provide an on-the-record explanation about why Moore was not invited to the governors’ dinner.
Moore is vice chair of the National Governors Association.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday if he was excluded because he was Black, Moore said he couldn’t say what the president was thinking.
The president and his policies have harmed Black female workers, historically Black colleges and universities and efforts to teach and celebrate Black history, Moore said.
“What we saw was that the same time that he disinvited me from the White House dinner, that he put together a meme of the former first family likening them to apes,” Moore said Tuesday. “So I can’t speak to the president’s heart. You’re going to have to ask the president of the United States that. I can just speak to what I see. And it’s pretty disturbing.”
Moore and Trump have also traded barbs over crime in Baltimore, with the governor all but daring the president to visit the city last year. Moore has regularly criticized Trump and his administration for firing federal workers and cutting government programs.
Moore and Polis are getting support from most of their Democratic colleagues. Eighteen of the 27 members of the Democratic Governors Association signed the statement.
“At every turn, President Trump is creating chaos and division, and it is the American people who are hurting as a result,” the statement said.
Among Maryland’s neighbors, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Matt Meyer of Delaware signed the statement. Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mayor Muriel Bowser of the District of Columbia, who is a member of the DGA, did not sign the statement.
Tuesday afternoon, the National Governors Association said they would no longer meet with Trump after Democrats were excluded from the event.
Banner reporter Brenda Wintrode contributed to this report.
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