President Trump has dispensed with another White House tradition: meeting with all the nation's governors.
The National Governors Association meets in Washington, D.C., every year with this year's meeting scheduled for next week. The traditionally bipartisan event is an opportunity for governors to meet with the president and discuss issues affecting their constituents. It's usually followed by a formal dinner. This year, the Trump Administration only invited Republicans to the meeting and disinvited some Democratic governors from the formal dinner scheduled to follow.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore is one of the two disinvited governors. Moore said the decision sent the same message as the president's recent refusal to apologize for posting a racist meme of the Obamas.
"This message of disrespect — of his own personal feelings of supremacy — I think, are things that are just deeply unneeded reminders of just how unstable his leadership continues to be," Moore said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the exclusions at a press briefing on Tuesday.
"It's the people's house," Leavitt said. "It's also the president's home. And so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House."
Democratic leaders who were invited to the dinner have said they will skip the dinner. The National Governors Association said it won't "facilitate" events that don't include all governors, including next week's dinner.
Moore discussed the dinner and his state's redistricting with NPR's Michel Martin. This interview occurred before other Democratic leaders said they would skip the dinner and before Leavitt's press briefing.
Click the play button in the blue box above to listen to the full conversation.
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