Fla. senator blasts ‘excessive partisanship’ after exclusion from White House guns meeting

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) decried what he called “excessive partisanship” on Wednesday after he was left out of a meeting between President Trump and a group of lawmakers about legislative responses to a deadly shooting at a south Florida high school.

“It was intentional. I’m not unhappy about it. I think it shows the excessive partisanship, if not of the president, of at least those around him,” Nelson said on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily.”

“What people want is they want us to come together in bipartisan agreement,” he added.

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Nelson’s absence at the White House meeting was striking with his Republican counterpart, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), in attendance, as were Florida Reps. Brian Mast (R), John Rutherford (R), Ted Deutch (D) and Stephanie Murphy (D).

The Democratic senator has been an outspoken advocate for strengthening gun control laws after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, which left 17 people dead and 14 others injured.

Nelson appeared at a CNN televised town hall with students, parents and community members of Parkland last week.

An aide to Nelson told The Hill earlier Wednesday that the decision to exclude him from the White House meeting was “all political.”

“The White House is doing everything it can to help Gov. Rick Scott as he prepares to run against Nelson this year. This is just the latest,” the aide said, referring to Florida’s Republican governor, who is said to be weighing a bid for Nelson’s Senate seat.

Trump has reportedly been encouraging Scott to run.