About 50 House Republicans dodged Donald Trump’s closed-door meeting with lawmakers this morning on Capitol Hill, including west Michigan Congressman Fred Upton.
Trump’s speech was designed to reassure nervous GOP House members about the real estate mogul’s role as the party’s standardbearer. Many lawmakers have expressed barely veiled dismay with Trump at the top of the ticket and on Wednesday Politico found that some were dredging up excuses to avoid this morning’s event.
Politico’s Rachel Bade and John Bresnahan talked with numerous Republicans and reported this:
… There are likely to be a large number of GOP no-shows who miss — or outright skip — Trump’s appearance. In fact, some of the excuses they offer for not going seem suspiciously flimsy and signal just how hard it will be for Trump win the support of his own party establishment.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told reporters he had “a longstanding appointment downtown.” Another member said he had to be at the doctor’s office and couldn’t make it. A third said he had a “breakfast meeting.” The member — who asked not to be named — then pulled out his schedule for Thursday morning. When he saw that there wasn’t any event on his schedule, the member took out a pen and wrote “Breakfast meeting” on it. “See, I have one!” he joked.
