Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, the Republican chair of the National Governors Association, said on Wednesday he will attend the White House dinner this weekend with the caveat that it is not considered an NGA event.
The decision not to host the organization’s annual winter meeting at the White House was made in response to President Donald Trump barring two Democratic governors from this week’s business meeting.
The meeting is an annual event that includes a Saturday dinner at the White House and has historically been bipartisan. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the Democratic vice chair of the NGA, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis were both left off the invitation list, resulting in other Democrats boycotting.
“I will be at the White House on Saturday night,” Stitt said at an Economic Club of Washington, D.C. event in Washington about the dinner. “You can invite whoever you want to the White House, but it can’t be an NGA event if it’s not inclusive to all 50 governors. So that’s all that was. I’m excited to go. I support the president, and you know, we’re gonna go.”
Moore and Stitt appeared together at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. event.
Trump listed several reasons he did not invite Moore to the dinner, stating on Truth Social that Moore “is doing a terrible job on the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and has allowed Baltimore to continue to be a Crime Disaster.”
Stitt doubled down on his statement that the NGA cannot facilitate a partisan event. In a letter first reported by the Associated Press sent to all governors last week, Stitt wrote that because “NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event.”
The president, in turn, referred to Stitt last week as a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only. In the same fiery post on Truth Social, he added that “as usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG!” Although Stitt is a Republican, he and Trump have longstanding issues.
Moore, in the meantime, continues to be at odds with the president this week over more than 200 million gallons of sewage that leaked into the Potomac River, which Trump is arguing that the state of Maryland and its leadership are at fault for. Moore, who says the federal government is responsible for the spill, still lamented the loss of the bipartisan dinner.
“It’s been a trying time, because there are certain traditions that have lasted for decades, where no matter who the president is, no matter who the governor is, that they’re all invited,” Moore said at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. event. “It’s for once a year to come spend time and break bread, and you could have a president or a governor who completely, vehemently disagree with one another, but there are certain traditions that are being broken right now.
“When the president told me that I was disinvited because I was not worthy, which again, I’m very clear, I say this with respect to the president: God determines my worthiness, not you,” Moore continued.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has clashed with blue-state leadership. In his second term, the president has attacked Democratic governors, mayors and attorneys general such as Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. Both are reportedly still invited to Saturday’s dinner.
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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Oklahoma Watch.
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