President Donald Trump spent days needling Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, casting doubt on his legitimacy, sneering at his standing and publicly musing that he didn’t deserve a White House invite.
Moore never took the bait. The nation’s only Black governor responded not with outrage, but with a measured dismissal that made clear he wasn’t auditioning for a role in Trump’s latest performance.
The standoff erupted ahead of the National Governors’ Association’s annual bipartisan winter gathering for the nation’s 55 states and territories that is scheduled for Feb. 19 -21 in Washington and usually includes a business meeting and dinner at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, among other events.
When Trump moved to flex political muscle by inviting only Republican governors to the White House business session — specifically excluding Moore, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, the association’s Republican co-chair, considered canceling the meeting altogether.
But two days later, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, that had changed when Stitt told members in a letter that the White House meeting was back on after the entire group was invited, citing a “misunderstanding in scheduling,” according to CNN.
Stitt said in the letter that Trump was inviting all members to the business breakfast and meeting on Friday, Feb. 20, at the White House.
“He was very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association’s event, and he looks forward to hosting you and hearing from governors across the country. President Trump said this was always his intention, and we have addressed the misunderstanding in scheduling,” Stitt said.
But even after Stitt sent the letter, an angry Trump took to his Truth Social platform to whine about the Oklahoma Republican and to repeat that Moore and Polis were “not worthy” and not invited.
“The RINO Governor of the Great State of Oklahoma, in which I won all 77 Counties, three times (The only person to do so!), incorrectly stated my position on the very exclusive Governors Annual Dinner and Meeting at the White House: ‘The White House intends to limit invitations to the annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20th, to Republican Governors only.’ That is false! The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there,” Trump raged.
CBS journalist Nora O’Donnell asked Moore in an interview why he thinks he was “singled out” and not invited.
“I can’t speak to the President’s heart. I can speak to his actions,” Moore said, appearing annoyed yet resolute.
“And I do want to be clear to the president respectfully; you do not determine my worthiness. God determines my worthiness. The people of Maryland determine my worthiness. They are who I answer to, not him,” Moore stated.
Moore saved the best for last when he slapped back at Trump for deeming him “unworthy.”
“But if the point of the meeting that he singled me out and told me I’m disinvited from — is to turn it into name-calling or to follow what he did in this most recent tweet, which is full of lies and it’s ignorant and it’s unhinged, if the point of the meeting is that, then my answer to the president is very clear, nah, I’m good,” Moore continued.
View on Threads
Moore’s dismissal of Trump seems to even shock O’Donnell, who asked for clarification. “Meaning you won’t go?” O’Donnell asked. “Oh, I’m good. I will not go. Absolutely not,” he answered.
Social media spiraled in outrage over Trump’s childish behavior
One Threads user, Lillian Gonzales, probably summed it up best.
“Oh please, Trump is not fit to shine Governor Moore’s shoes,” she wrote, before rattling off Moore’s accomplishments as a Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Oxford University’s Wolfson College, where he earned an MLitt in International Relations, among other achievements.
She ended bluntly, “Not even sure why Trump is still occupying the White House. He should be in handcuffs, headed to prison.”
Even former news anchor Katie Couric jumped into the comments to praise Moore for his “fantastic” response.
Others saw a familiar pattern withTrump’s behavior, “Trump hates this man for the same reason he hates Obama…very well spoken, eloquent speaker, confident black man, and he only bows to God! Trump hates confident and successful, strong black men! He is very intimidated by these elite men of class and eloquence!”
Just as Moore dropped his pointed dismissal of Trump, a few sharp-eyed viewers spotted a blond-haired woman in the audience behind him and loved her reaction.
View on Threads
The woman laughed and rocked back in her seat. Threads users also laughed and agreed with her.
“We are all that woman,” poster Amy Burwell proclaimed. “Caught that too,” wrote another.
But others wanted Trump’s racism to be called out for what it is by both Moore and the host.
“Why didn’t you call him out for being racist? The answer to the question is because you are black. Why are you afraid to say that?” Feminista Jones wondered.
“I want people to say plainly that’s it’s racist. Period. Stop walking on eggshells,” said another viewer to which Threads user Beverly Francis responded, “Exactly and the journalists that keep trying to sugarcoat his nonsense without calling it out sick of them.”
