Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Most of the nation\u2019s Democratic governors pledged to not attend events hosted by the White House later this month, after President Donald Trump snubbed some state executives amid his ongoing feud with blue states.<\/p>\n
POLITICO reported last week<\/a> that the White House decided to invite only Republicans to a meeting between the president and governors that was timed to the National Governors Association\u2019s annual gathering \u2014 a break from its bipartisan past. And while a dinner celebrating governors of both parties was still planned, some Democrats \u2014 including Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado \u2014 confirmed they did not receive an invitation.<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that while the White House is the people\u2019s house, \u201cit’s also the president’s home, and so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s decision not to invite Moore \u2014 the association\u2019s vice chair \u2014 and Polis sparked backlash from Democrats, with 18 sitting governors announcing that they would boycott the dinner.<\/p>\n \u201cIf 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,\u201d the Democratic governors wrote in a joint statement Tuesday. \u201cDemocratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.\u201d<\/p>\n Moore also suggested Sunday<\/a> that his race may have played a role in the White House\u2019s decision not to invite him to the event.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not lost on me that I\u2019m the only Black governor in this country, and 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 where I know I belong in,\u201d he said in an interview with CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n POLITICO previously reported that the NGA decided not to sponsor the planned meeting between Trump and the governors once it became clear only Republicans would be invited, with the organization writing in an email to people involved in planning that \u201cno NGA resources will be used to support transportation for this activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Brandon Tatum, the CEO of the NGA, said in a statement last week that the group was \u201cdisappointed in the administration\u2019s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year.\u201d<\/p>\n At last year\u2019s annual meeting between Trump and the governors, the president got into an argument<\/a> with Maine Gov. Janet Mills over his administration\u2019s moves to restrict transgender athletes\u2019 participation in school sports, with Trump ultimately threatening to pull funding and Mills promising to sue.<\/p>\n The NGA has undergone considerable turmoil in the last year, with Democratic governors raising alarm about the association\u2019s unwillingness to more vocally criticize the Trump administration.<\/p>\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker threatened to withdraw<\/a> from the group over Trump\u2019s decision to deploy other states\u2019 National Guard troops to their states.<\/p>\n Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the group\u2019s Republican chair, also criticized the administration\u2019s National Guard deployments<\/a>, telling The New York Times in an October interview<\/a> that he worried the president was undermining states\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n In a letter sent Monday by Stitt to other governors and obtained by The Associated Press<\/a>, he urged members to unite together, writing \u201cthe solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n