House

Moderate Dem rejects invitation to meet Trump aides at WH

by Rebecca Savransky - 03/29/17 11:53 AM ET

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said he is not accepting an invitation to meet with President Trump’s top congressional aides.

“I was asked if I would be interested in going over to the White House for a meeting,” Lynch said in a statement to the Boston Globe.

“They said they were looking for ‘moderate’ Democrats — which I am. But under the circumstances I felt like they were trying to divide our party so I declined the invitation.”

Lynch was invited to the White House to meet with the president’s director of legislative affairs, Marc Short, according to The Globe.

{mosads}The Massachusetts Democrat said he thinks Trump’s White House has “taken a ‘scorched earth’ approach so far.”

“I am usually someone who looks for middle ground, but Mr. Trump’s opening position, especially as reflected in his budget, has been so extreme that there is no middle ground,” he said.

“It’s a non-starter for me.”

Fellow New Englander Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) told Lynch a few weeks ago that the White House wanted to have a meeting with moderate Democrats, The Globe reported.

On Monday, Lynch’s office received the formal invitation.

It comes after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last week pulled the GOP healthcare bill from the House floor amid dwindling support among Republicans. The president said Tuesday he has “no doubt” that a deal will be made on healthcare, and also tweeted on Sunday that he expects Democrats to “will make a deal with me on healthcare as soon as ObamaCare folds – not long.”

The rejected invitation also comes as many Democrats announce opposition to the president’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Tags Paul Ryan