Black Caucus to decline Trump meeting: report

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/338724-report-black-lawmakers-to-decline-meeting-with-trump

Black Caucus to decline Trump meeting: report
By Rebecca Savransky - 06/21/17 08:17 AM EDT


The Congressional Black Caucus will reportedly decline to meet with President Trump.

Four sources close to the group told Politico the lawmakers will reject a meeting with the president, noting they don't believe the Trump administration has done anything to support the priorities of the group.

“No one wants to be a co-star on the reality show,” said one senior Democratic aide.
The report comes after lawmakers in the caucus got an invitation last week to meet with the president.

“As requested by the president, we would like to schedule a follow-up meeting with the entire membership of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss issues pertinent to your members,” Omarosa Manigault wrote in the invitation, obtained by Politico.

The chairman of the CBC is expected to make an announcement about the group's decision after it has talked about it during its weekly meeting.

A spokeswoman for the group declined to comment on the record.

Sources told Politico though that the meeting is "off the table."

Several members were also reportedly put off by Manigault signing the invitations "the Honorable Omarosa Manigault," which is a title they felt she hadn't earned.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the CBC urged the Trump administration to direct more resources toward investigating hate crimes against minorities.

In a letter to the heads of the Department of Justice, FBI and Department of Homeland Security, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) cited recent reports in Washington, D.C., of nooses hung at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Hirshhorn Museum and on the American University campus.