Pritzker joins chorus of Dem governors boycotting White House dinner after snub ignites 'chaos'

A chorus of Democratic governors are rallying behind their fellow Democratic Governors Jared Polis, from Colorado, and Wes Moore, from Maryland, after they did not receive invites for a traditionally bipartisan White House dinner. 

Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker was among those who decided they would be boycotting the slate of events hosted at the White House for the National Governors Association's annual winter gathering held Feb. 19–21. 

"No way will I attend the White House dinner with this President," Gov. Pritzker said Tuesday. "I’m standing with Gov. Wes Moore and Gov. Jared Polis — and standing against Trump’s corruption and hatred. And I’m calling on my Republican colleagues to do the same." 

The boycott is being led by the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and its vice chair, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Other Democratic Party governors who have committed to the boycott include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. A coalition of 18 governors signed a statement Tuesday slamming President Donald Trump for creating "chaos and division" by snubbing the state leaders. 

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The White House reportedly decided to divert from the traditional path of inviting both Republican and Democratic governors to the events being held at the White House. Although a White House official also reportedly told Politico that "many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House" while others were not.

The move not to invite all Democrat governors to the winter gathering comes after President Trump got into a public spat with Democrat Governor of Maine, Janet Mills, at a bipartisan "Governors Working Session" last year in February over transgender sports participation. The heated back-and-forth was televised on national stations for all to see and led to the pair exchanging barbs for the subsequent weeks over the matter and over the state's unwillingness to follow federal orders, such as those related to transgender sports participation.  

When reached for comment on the matter, a White House spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karoline Leavitt's comments Tuesday on the matter from the White House briefing room, during which she defended President Trump's decision to not invite the Democratic Party governors.

"I just spoke with the president about this. It is a dinner at the White House. It's the people's house. It's also the president's home, and so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners and events here at the White House," Leavitt told reporters from the White House briefing room Tuesday. 

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She added that Gov. Moore had been invited the previous year, but never ended up coming. "Nobody reported on it. But, again, the president has the discretion to invite whomever he wants to the White House, and he welcomes all those who received an invitation to come and if they don't want to that's their loss."

During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Moore suggested his lack of an invite was due to race, telling the show it was "not lost" on him that he is the only Black governor in the country and the president was trying to deny him attendance at an organization's event that Moore said his fellow Democrat governors have said they would like to see him lead. Moore also pointed to the fact he led a delegation of governors to the White House several weeks ago. 

In a statement, Brandon Tatum, CEO of the National Governors Association (NGA), said he was "disappointed in the administration's decision."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who is the chairman of the NGA, said in a Monday letter to fellow governors that the association was "no longer serving as the facilitator" for the upcoming event, according to The Associated Press. Stitt said the NGA was meant to represent all governors — those of the 50 states as well as the governors of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.