Kansas City Mayor Sly James did not meet with President Trump during his Kansas City visit, but only one news outlet used that angle as a lead. Credit here goes to Tony’s Kansas City for assembling the following headlines in regard to President Trump’s visit to Kansas City on Tuesday.
KCTV5: President Trump addresses annual VFW convention, touts Hawley during Kansas City visit
Channel 9: President Trump pays tribute to victims of duck boat tragedy
KCTV5: On Twitter, Kansas City mayor says he was not invited to welcome president
Huff Post: Donald Trump Tells Kansas City Rally Everything They’re Seeing Is A Lie
Fox News Insider: Trump Brings 94-Year-Old Veteran on Stage, Invites Him to Oval Office
C-SPAN: President Trump at VFW Convention
KMBC: President Trump honors 94-year-old WWII veteran during KC speech
Channel 41: Veterans react to President Trump’s speech in KC
ABC News: President Trump defiant on trade war in remarks to VFW
KSHB: Trump hits back on critics of trade policy during VFW speech
Arguably, the most intriguing of the varied story lines is the one put forth by KCTV 5, “On Twitter, Kansas City mayor says he was not invited to welcome president.” Several prominent local people were invited to meet the president. These included baseball great George Brett, Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, and the three police officers recently wounded in the line of duty.
When asked via Twitter whether he was even scheduled to meet with the president, Kansas City Mayor Sly James explained via Twitter that he was in San Diego for an airport meeting, a commitment he made before the president announced his trip to Kansas City.
Had James left it at that, he could have avoided giving the impression the president snubbed him. Instead, he also tweeted, “The White House has to invite you to do that and I wasn’t invited. Secret service never reached out to do the usual background check.”
James’s ambiguous answer prompted ambiguous tweets like following, “I am Republican but still like u, am curious why the mayor was not there to greet the president. I don’t think that’s right, no matter the political party.”
Given James’s open antipathy to Trump, it would surprise no one if the president deliberately left the mayor off the invite list. It would be helpful if James acknowledged the possibility that, if he were snubbed, the president had a reason to do so.
