Michigan’s GOP House Speaker Rep. Lee Chatfield (R-MI-107) has joined North Carolina in inviting President Donald Trump to deliver his State of the Union address in the state legislature.
Chatfield said Michigan also has a divided government but the Republican legislative majority is invested in the success of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, he said, in inviting Trump to come to the House chamber of the state Capitol, according to a story in The Detroit News.
Chatfield tweeted, “President @realDonaldTrump, due to the unavailability of the US House for your #SOTU Address, I would like to extend to you an official invitation to deliver your important address in the Michigan House chamber. The success of our state & country is bigger than political parties!”
https://twitter.com/LeeChatfield/status/1086298775382097920
The News said:
Chatfield’s invitation seemed to get a boost when it was retweeted by Michigan native and Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.
“The American people deserve to hear from @realDonaldTrump about the state of our union,” McDaniel added in the tweet. “Nancy Pelosi’s opposition begs the question: Are Democrats afraid of the public hearing about all of the progress we’ve made?”
The Trump administration had not responded as of press time.
Chatfield’s invitation comes in the wake of Speaker of the North Carolina House Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC-111) inviting President Trump to deliver his State of the Union remarks in Raleigh. Moore’s invitation came after the U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi canceled the President’s SOTU speech.
Pelosi called for Trump to delay his scheduled Jan. 29 State of the Union address until government funding is restored and the shutdown ends.
“Let’s get a date when the government is open,” Pelosi said.
Trump, in turn, said he was denying her use of military aircraft for her planned trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan because of the shutdown.
– – –
Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
