Republican Massachusetts governor to skip fundraiser with Pence

The Republican governor of Massachusetts is skipping a major GOP fundraiser in Boston on Tuesday featuring Vice President Mike Pence.
Gov. Charlie Baker has said that he will miss the event because his “calendar has other stuff on it.” But prominent Massachusetts Republicans are criticizing Baker for what they see as an effort to distance himself from the Trump administration ahead of his reelection campaign.
Mary Lou Daxland, president of the state’s Republican Assembly, told the Boston Herald that Baker’s move was “insulting.”
“I think that’s absolutely a disgrace that he’s snubbing the vice president,” Daxland told the newspaper.
{mosads}Pence and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel are both appearing at the event. Baker and the state’s Republican lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, won’t greet Pence at the airport, and neither are attending the fundraiser, according to the Boston Herald.
The fundraiser is expected to raise half a million dollars for the RNC-Trump campaign partnership, Trump Victory. For a minimum donation of $15,000, donors are offered a photo op with the vice president.
Baker has criticized the Trump administration and has been public about not voting for President Trump, the Herald noted.
“Show some respect,” former Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.) told the paper. “If you’re afraid to be seen with your vice president then join the other party.”
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