Congressional Black Caucus excuses for refusing to meet with Trump are quite hilarious

Warning! This information comes from the Worst Web Site in the World, which leaves us with a reasonably high possibility that it could all be completely made up, and that the anonymous sources cited could be fictional. I don't know if I believe the story myself. But we'll delve into it anyway because it's consistent with some things we know happened back in the spring, and because the kinds of people cited here seem like the types who would actually talk to said Worst Web Site. Also, it's hilarious. Apparently President Trump would like to meet with the 50-member Congressional Black Caucus to learn more about the issues that are important to them. Now normally, when the president wants to grant you an audience and hear about your priorities, you'd jump at that opportunity.

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That assumes, of course, that you're actually concerned about accomplishing your stated goals. If all you're concerned about is political posturing, then you might complain to high heaven that the president will never talk to you and doesn't care about your issues, because he's a racist or whatever. That usually works great in Washington, but you are going to run into a problem if the president turns out to be quite willing to meet with you and hear your concerns. That will make him look good! You can't have that. So you have to come up with any excuse you can think of not to go to the meeting, which can require some real creativity:

But multiple CBC members said they were put off that she signed the invitation as “the Honorable Omarosa Manigault,” saying she hasn’t earned that title nor has she helped raise the profile of CBC issues within the White House as promised. CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) isn’t expected to make an official announcement until after the group discusses the invitation during its weekly meeting Wednesday. Kamara Jones, a spokeswoman for the CBC, declined to comment on the record. But sources close to the group say they have been told the caucus-wide meeting with the president is "off the table."

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There are both logistical and political hurdles to the entire caucus meeting with Trump. With nearly 50 members, assembling even most of the caucus for a meeting would be difficult. “How do you get 30-plus members into a room having a meeting and make it meaningful?” said one source familiar with the caucus’ deliberations. But members of the caucus are also worried about the optics of a meeting. During their meeting with Trump in March, members of the leadership tried to avoid taking a picture with Trump for fear it would be used to make it look like they had thrown their support behind the president. If the majority of the caucus were to go to the White House, the pressure to huddle with Trump in the Oval Office for a group photo could be tougher to avoid. “The entire caucus goes down there, it’s sort of harder to control,” the source familiar with the situation said. Aside from the optics, Trump has done little, if anything, to address any of the policies important to the caucus, members say. CBC sources said caucus members were miffed that the Trump budget proposal didn’t include additional funding for historically black colleges and universities after the president made a big show of meeting with leaders from those schools in the Oval Office in February. Trump further angered the CBC when he issued a statement accompanying the stopgap funding bill in early May questioning the constitutionality of federal funding for historically black colleges and universities.

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So let's review these excuses:

1. They didn't like the way Trump staff member Omarosa Manigault signed the invitation.
2. It's too hard to get 50 people to show up. For the president of the United States? Really?
3. Oh no, the president might want them to pose for a picture of him. We can't have that!
4. He said something about a funding issue that they didn't like. That's a reason not to talk to him for sure.

But this is my favorite: He hasn't done anything to advance their issues! Um, isn't that why you'd want to talk to him? If he hasn't addressed your concerns but he's willing to listen, why wouldn't you see that as a golden opportunity to explain why they're important, and to persuade him to take a different approach to them? I'm sure there's some suspicion that Trump only wants to meet with the CBC to prove to everyone he is not the racist people claim he is. But so what? It's still a chance to get the ear of the president of the United States. If you go and take it seriously, and he still doesn't give you want you want, you can say you gave it your best. If you won't even take the opportunity, then why is it on him instead of on you when nothing you want gets done? But having said all that, let's just cut through the nonsense and state what's obviously true: The CBC members don't want to meet with Trump because it might make Trump look good if they do, and preventing that is more important to them than the legislative priorities they tell their constituents they want to achieve. These people would let their entire districts burn to the ground rather than let Trump throw a bucket of water on the fire, because it might benefit Trump politically if he did. Of course, it's possible Politico made up the whole thing. That would actually be less disturbing than the prospect our politicians actually act like this.

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