Carly Fiorina speaks in Nashua, New Hampshire in 2015. The former technology executive was to speak at a Republican “victory dinner” Thursday in Charleston but did not attend.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Carly Fiorina, a former Republican presidential candidate, reportedly did not show up Thursday evening for a scheduled “victory dinner” for the West Virginia Republican Party.
The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who ran against Donald Trump in the Republican primary earlier this year, was supposed to be the keynote speaker at a round-table set up by the state party, but just before the event was about to start, state Republican Chairman Conrad Lucas told MetroNews that Fiorina would not be attending because of a “scheduling conflict.”
Kent Gates, spokesman for Republican candidate for governor Bill Cole, confirmed Fiorina would not attend. Gates said he had heard that U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., would be taking Fiorina’s place as the lead speaker.
Lucas and other state Republican Party members on Thursday either did not return calls or said they could not confirm anything about Fiorina’s scheduling change, which comes several weeks after Fiorina disavowed Trump. Fiorina, along with many other well known Republicans, had asked Trump to end his candidacy after a 2005 video surfaced of the Republican nominee saying he could grope women because he was famous.
“I understand the responsibility of Republicans to support their nominee,” Fiorina said, while calling for Trump to step aside. “Our nominee has weighty responsibilities as well. Donald Trump has manifestly failed in these responsibilities.”
As people were showing up for the scheduled round-table at the Charleston Town Center Marriott Thursday, officials with the state Republican Party stopped members of the press and said reporters were not allowed at the event.
The party had sent out a news release to local media more than a month ago announcing the event and Fiorina as the guest speaker, but when presented with that news release a GOP official reiterated that event was not open to reporters.
Fiorina’s scheduling conflict comes at a time when the national Republican Party has split over their controversial presidential nominee. Many Republican congress members have fled Trump’s campaign for fear of his sinking approval numbers dragging them down, too.
But in West Virginia, the state Republican Party and its leaders have continued to stand with Trump, a candidate that has been hit by numerous allegations of sexual misconduct from women he encountered in his past.
Trump is now running significantly behind his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in vital swing states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Nevada, but in West Virginia conservative political candidates still are embracing the candidate, including both the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor.
West Virginia’s four Republican congress members — Sen. Capito, Rep. Evan Jenkins, Rep. Alex Mooney and Rep. David McKinley — have condemned Trump’s comments about groping women, but all of them have stuck with the former reality television star because of his stance on coal.
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