President Trump welcomed governors from both parties to the White House this week for the annual National Governors Association conference, but two prominent Democratic governors were notably omitted. Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado were not invited to the events, which include a formal meeting on February 20 and a dinner the following evening.
The announcement was made on Wednesday after several days of uncertainty regarding the invitation list. Trump clarified the situation in a post on Truth Social that afternoon, taking the opportunity to be critical of a Republican governor as well:
The RINO Governor of the Great State of Oklahoma, in which I won all 77 Counties, three times (The only person to do so!), incorrectly stated my position on the very exclusive Governors Annual Dinner and Meeting at the White House: “The White House intends to limit invitations to the annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20th, to Republican Governors only.” That is false! The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there.
I did not invite the Governor of Colorado, who has unfairly incarcerated in solitary confinement a 73-year-old cancer stricken woman (A nine year term!), for attempting to fight Democrat Voter Fraud, plus the foul mouthed Governor of Maryland, who fraudulently stated that he received Military medals, A LIE, 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. I even invited the SLOB of a Governor, JB Pritzker, and horrendous California Governor, Gavin Newscum, to the Dinner, despite the terrible job that they are doing.
So, as usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG! The Invitations were sent out to all other Governors, Democrat and Republican. I look forward to seeing the Republican Governors, and some of the Democrats Governors who were worthy of being invited, but most of whom won’t show up.
Stitt eventually took to social media to note that, yes, Trump had indeed invited governors from both parties.
“He was very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association’s event, and he looks forward to hosting you and hearing from governors across the country. President Trump said this was always his intention, and we have addressed the misunderstanding in scheduling,” he said.
Trump provided specific reasons for excluding certain individuals from his guest list. For Moore, Trump cited allegations of embellishing military medals on a 2006 White House fellowship application. Although Moore has referred to this as an “honest mistake,” he has since received a Bronze Star for his deployment to Afghanistan. Additionally, Trump labeled Moore as “foul-mouthed,” although he did not specify any particular incident to support this claim.
Regarding Polis, the issue revolved around Tina Peters, a former Colorado county election clerk who is currently serving a nine-year sentence for multiple state charges related to unauthorized access to voting machines. Trump has been urging Polis for months to grant Peters clemency, but Polis has not complied, leading to his exclusion from the guest list.
Moore responded that Trump’s reported snub was “another example of blatant disrespect and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership.”
Polis’ office, meanwhile, said that “no matter what events Colorado is or isn’t invited to, Governor Polis will continue to focus on working with his fellow governors and anyone who wants to help make people’s lives better.”
Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from the White House Religious Liberty Commission after a contentious hearing this week focused on Israel’s war against Gaza. Prejean Boller, a former Miss California USA 2009 and Miss USA 2009 runner-up, faced calls for her resignation after wearing a Palestinian flag pin, defending right-wing podcaster Candace Owens, and urging other commissioners to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Dan Patrick, who chairs the commission, announced her removal following the hearing, Raw Story reported.