WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito was not at President Donald Trump’s speech to the Boy Scouts at the National Scouting Jamboree at the Bechtel Summit in Fayette County last month and it apparently had to do with the Affordable Care Act.
A report published Tuesday by the New York Times said Capito turned down a trip with the Trump on Air Force One because it was linked to her support for the Senate leadership’s health care bill.
The article said:
“When Mr. Trump addressed a Boy Scouts jamboree last month in West Virginia, White House aides told Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from the state whose support was in doubt, that she could only accompany him on Air Force One if she committed to voting for the health care bill. She declined the invitation, noting that she could not commit to voting for a measure she had not seen, according to Republican briefed on the conversation.”
Some other members of the state’s congressional delegation were on hand. Third District Congressman Evan Jenkins did ride on Air Force One with President Trump.
A request for comment from Capito’s office Tuesday evening was not immediately returned.
The Capito item in the Times article was part of a larger article about the rocky relationship between Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.