Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are split on how sincere President Trump’s invitation to meet with them is, or how much it would accomplish.
“We’ve always met with the president,” said Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., told the Washington Examiner. “We met with Bush; met with Obama so sure, we should probably meet with him.”
When asked if he thinks it would be a productive meeting, Clay responded: “I’m not sure about that.”
But Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who boycotted Trump’s inauguration said he would reject the invitation.
“I’m not in the mood to meet with him now,” Lewis told the Washington Examiner.
Shortly after Trump extended the invitation, the CBC used the president’s favorite communication tool, Twitter, to respond.
“Hi, @realDonaldTrump. We’re the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad!” it read, including a link to the letter.
Hi, @realDonaldTrump. We’re the CBC. We sent you a letter on January 19, but you never wrote us back. Sad! Letter: https://t.co/58KiuHmITF
— Black Caucus (@OfficialCBC) February 16, 2017
Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn of South Carolina was incredulous when asked about a possible meeting.
“Want to meet with him?” he asked reporters seeking his thought on the initiation.
“We’re happy to meet with him I’m sure,” Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not speaking for the entire group, but there are lots of things that I think he could benefit from talking to the CBC. I don’t think we would be opposed to meeting. I certainly wouldn’t.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said Trump should look to CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond’s letter for ideas on what the all-Democratic caucus would like to discuss.
“I think that if the dialogue is on issues that are important to us and is not going to be a pro forma meeting just so they can say he checked the box, but if he is serious about issues that are of concern to the African-American community, then as president, we’ll have that dialogue,” Meeks told the Washington Examiner.
“And he’s got to be ready to hear from us also — exactly what is on our minds, what are concerns are, so it’s going to be a two-way thing,” Meeks said. “He can’t come in and think it’s going to be a feel-good session so he can say he checked the box.
“We’re not going to be used,” he emphasized. “We’ll make sure that wouldn’t happen.”
Susan Ferrechio contributed to this story.
