CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, who recently said Donald Trump should step aside in the race for president, was a no show Thursday evening the West Virginia GOP Victory Dinner in Charleston.
“It’s a scheduling conflict,” West Virginia Republican Party Chair Conrad Lucas told MetroNews. He would not elaborate.
In a news release from several months ago announcing Fiorina’s appearance, Lucas said it would be an honor to have Fiorina in Charleston.
“The 2016 election is critical for our state’s future and we are excited to have Carly in West Virginia to support our efforts,” Lucas said.
All of that was before Fiorina called for Trump to leave the presidential race following the release of a 2005 recording where Trump bragged about forcibly groping women. Trump has called it locker room talk.
Fiorina made the following Facebook post on Oct. 8:
The latest polls show Trump’s numbers are still strong in West Virginia. A poll released this week from Global Strategy Group had Trump ahead of Hillary Clinton in West Virginia 58 percent to 31 percent.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito replaced Fiorina with the keynote address Thursday evening at the Charleston Marriott.