Basically no politicians wanted to meet or travel with Trump to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto didn't want President Trump to visit just three days after 11 people were murdered at the city's Tree of Life synogogue. He showed up anyway — and gave Peduto less than a day to prepare.
Plans for Trump to visit Pittsburgh on Tuesday were revealed in a White House press briefing on Monday. That's also when Peduto first heard about the president's visit, a spokesman told CNN, meaning the mayor wouldn't have time to visit with Trump while he was in town. A slew of national, state, and local officials also reportedly turned down invitations to travel or meet with Trump in Pennsylvania.
The first funerals began on Tuesday for those murdered in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. Peduto said there wouldn't be "enough public safety officials" to protect those funerals and the president on one day, reports The Washington Post, so he suggested Trump visit once all the burials were complete.
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The White House also asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to join Trump, but everyone declined, the Post reports. Local and state officials, including Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, are not expected to meet with the president. The Pittsburgh area's Democratic congressmen and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) reportedly weren't invited to do so.
Welcome or not, Trump arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday with first lady Melania Trump, along with daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who are both Jewish.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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