President Donald Trump is in Texas today for a fundraiser and a meeting on race relations and policing. Dallas’ police chief, Dallas County’s sheriff and the district attorney, all of whom are black, were not invited to the discussion. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson was invited but declined.
“Chief Hall has not received an invitation for a meeting in conjunction with the president’s visit to Dallas. Her schedule Thursday is already completely full with a priority to prepare a final report to the city manager regarding decisions made during protests in the city,” an aide told the Dallas Morning News.
The list of those who will be attending has not been released, but the meeting reportedly includes faith leaders, law enforcement and small-business owners.
The White House has billed the meeting as a discussion about solutions to historic economic, health, and justice disparities in American communities. Trump is expected to announce a plan for “holistic revitalization and recovery”
Trump’s original reason for visiting Texas was a high-dollar fundraiser. The roundtable discussion on race relations appears to have been added in response to the weeks of protests over the killing of Houston native George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota.
Attendance at the fundraiser is limited to 25 people. The cost to attend is $580,600 for two people.
“Any time the president comes to town, it’s a good thing,” said state Rep. Matt Shaheen, (R-Plano). “It fires up the base.”
Recent polling shows Trump and presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden are virtually tied in Texas, an indication that the size of the Trump base Shaheen refers to is decreasing from its previous lead position against the Democrats.
Texas Democrats are critical of the president’s decision to visit the Lone Star State in the middle of “social unrest, economic calamity, and a pandemic that shows no signs of receding.”
