Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was not invited to participate in a school safety roundtable at the White House on Tuesday, an aide to the Democratic senator confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Though Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and five Democratic senators from other states are slated to attend the 3 o’clock meeting, Nelson’s office said the senator never received a call from the White House.
“I don’t know why I wasn’t invited,” Nelson told ABC on Wednesday. “And of course that doesn’t foster bipartisanship when you’re trying to solve a problem.”
Nelson has been pushing for stricter gun laws and a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the school shooting in his state that left 17 students and teachers dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Fla. had their own meeting last week with President Trump and White House officials, during which they discussed a range of options to enhance school safety and prevent mentally unstable people from acquiring guns.
The White House did not return a request for comment about Nelson’s exclusion.
Trump has publicly urged Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who has encouraged his state legislature to take up gun control legislation in the coming days, to challenge Nelson for Senate this year.
“I have to say that your governor – the job he’s done is incredible,” the president said of Scott during a visit to Florida last September. “So I hope he runs for Senate. Who knows what he’s gonna do.”
Scott has said he will make an announcement about his future plans after March 9, the final day of his last legislative session as governor.
