Congressional Black Caucus rejects invitation to meet with Trump
WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has rejected the invitation to meet with President Trump for a follow up meeting at the White House, according to a letter released by the chair of the committee, Cedric Richmond, on Wednesday.
Citing actions by the Trump administration "that will affirmatively hurt black communities," Richmond wrote that concerns discussed during a preliminary meeting with Mr. Trump on March 22 "fell on deaf ears."
"Given the lack of response to any of the many concerns we have raised with you and your administration, we decline your invitation for all 49 members of the Congressional Black Caucus to meet with you," Richmond said.
"I fail to see how a social gathering would benefit the policies we advocate for," Richmond added.
Mr. Trump's adviser Omarosa Manigault extended an invitation to the 49 members of the CBC to return to the White House for a follow up meeting on June 9th, first reported by CBS News last week.
Manigault, whose official title is Assistant to the President and Director of Communications of the Office of Public Liaison, was ridiculed on Twitter for signing the letter as "The Honorable Omarosa Manigault."
In response to one Twitter user who asked if she had received a promotion, Manigault tweeted out a screenshot of a guide for "departmental correspondence" that recommends addressing an assistant to the president as "Honorable" in a letter.
However, an article by The Washington Post points to the Emily Post Institute of Etiquette which states that "the honorific is reserved for "the President, the Vice President, United States senators and congressmen, Cabinet members, all federal judges, ministers plenipotentiary, ambassadors, and governors," who get to use the title for life."
The CBC has been skeptical of Manigault's role as an advocate for the black community in the Trump White House and her self-publicized degree of influence. A CBC source told CBS News that the group was not interested in what they predicted would be another "photo-op."
Richmond specifically lists several efforts by the administration that would "devastate" the African American community, including
Mr. Trump's 2018 fiscal budget, Attorney General Jeff Sessions plan to "accelerate the failed war on drugs," cuts to funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the "effort to dismantle our nation's health care system."
Sources say that the CBC is not completely united in the decision to reject Mr. Trump's invitation for a meeting.
In March, the Vice Chair of the CBC Gwen Moore told CBS News that refusing to engage with the President was a "luxury" that she did not have.
"We don't have the luxury of saying we won't meet with the president of the U.S.," she said at the time. "We have 1,399 more days left in his presidency and I don't think that our communities would be served well by our not engaging."
