Conversation with the Congressman

It’s not everyday that I receive an invitation to have a one-on-one with our government leaders. However, on Friday afternoon, over pizza and soda, I sat down with Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II. When I received the phone call on Thursday afternoon requesting the meeting, after accepting (one does not turn down an offer from a Congressman like that), my first thought was, “Oh no, what did I do to make him mad?”

I racked my brain, trying to remember if there was anything over the past few weeks that we have printed that might be of concern. Drawing a blank, I woke up Friday and got myself ready for the day as if I were meeting a celebrity. And, to be honest, Cleaver is a bit of a celebrity in the most Kansas City way. He even has a boulevard named after him.

From the moment Cleaver walked into Providence Pizza on Friday, though, my mind was put at ease (he wanted to meet there because that’s where he brought the Grandview High School basketball team after their state championship earlier this spring). After some brief chit-chat, he dove right into the elephant in the White House.

“The only reason he’s (President Trump) not going to get indicted is if he wins the election,” Cleaver said. “If he loses the election, he’ll be indicted. He’s in trouble. This is a weird moment in time, probably for the whole country.”

He talked about how farmers across America have started to rebel in a sense, and that farmers in Missouri have had a tough time with both tariffs and flooding. He said 70% of farmers in the country voted for Donald Trump. And while he won their votes at the time, Cleaver said that some are now saying that because of the administration and decisions that have been made since Trump took office, they are at risk of losing their farms and having trouble selling their crops.

“Some people think that if the President is impeached in the House, that that’s it and he packs up and goes home,” said Cleaver. “That’s not how it works. I’ve realized that a lot of Americans believe that when you say impeachment that the President leaves.”

Even with the latest developments in the impeachment process, including two arrests last week, Cleaver doesn’t believe that President Trump will be impeached. He added that there is speculation that Rudolph Giuliani, who currently serves as President Trump’s personal attorney, will also be indicted.

“I’m a simple preacher. I didn’t go to a fancy, nice school,” said Cleaver, “but I would not sit and have lunch in a public restaurant with two Russian-born believed-to-be mafia people like Giuliani. I mean, geez. He could have been anything.”

Cleaver said he thinks the country is at the tip of the iceberg, and that more things will come forth in the next few months (he even said it might give us all headaches).

Bringing the conversation home, Cleaver said he would like to be included in conversations that affect our community. He has seen growth and good things from Grandview and looks forward to seeing the Gateway Village soccer project come to fruition (don’t we all?).

“That project is a game-changer,” Cleaver said. He serves on a Congressional Modernization committee and has noted that the Gateway project is something that they have agreed to earmark funds in order to see it get underway. “I would be able to help with the financing piece.”

He asked me how business is going, and whether we’ve seen any hits either due to tariffs or the political discussions taking place across the country regarding the press.

“The attack on your industry is being felt across the globe,” said Cleaver. “If we lose our newspapers, we are in trouble. Most of the things everyone hears about in Washington was found out by newspapers. I don’t know what needs to be done, but you guys can fix things.”

We finished our talk with local school districts, elected officials, and other entities that we cover on a weekly basis. He reiterated that he’d like to keep the lines of communication open.

So, I’m not in trouble. That’s a relief. It was nice to actually sit down and just chat for a while with him. No agenda. No list of questions. Just a conversation. I’m always open to those sorts of invites. Maybe next time we can grab tacos.