Councilman Barr Meets President Trump at White House

By TIM KELLY It’s not every day that an Ocean City councilman has a private White House audience with the president and vice president of the United States. In fact, it’s probably safe to assume such an event never occurred previously. But that’s exactly what happened to Councilman Bob Barr on Thursday – along with a few harrowing moments he could’ve done without. Barr said he was “humbled and honored” to be invited by his friend, Congressman Jeff Van Drew, to attend an Oval Office ceremony and press availability to officially announce Van Drew had become the first U.S. representative in 10 years to switch political parties. Barr, the councilman representing Ocean City’s Fourth Ward, wanted to support Van Drew and he hoped to meet President Donald Trump. What actually took place exceeded his wildest expectations. “I thought I’d maybe get to shake the president’s hand and be out of there in five minutes.” Instead, Barr wound up in a personal audience with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and scored an invitation for a return visit to the White House after the holidays with girlfriend Michelle Eggleston for a VIP tour and a second meet-up with the president. “It was Congressman Van Drew’s day,” the 37-year-old Barr said. “I’m proud of him and so honored he asked me to be there. He only invited four other people. He could’ve asked anyone.” Van Drew, elected last November as a Democrat in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District, made international news earlier in the week with his controversial decision to jump to the GOP, which welcomed him with open arms. Jeff Van Drew shakes hands with President Donald Trump during their meeting Thursday at the White House. (Photo credit NY Post) Becoming a Republican is a “better fit” for his ideology, said Van Drew, previously characterized as a moderate Democrat. “It’s who I am. It’s who I’ve always been,” he said during Thursday’s ceremony. Van Drew was one of only two Democrats to oppose impeachment proceedings against Trump, which he said resulted in Democratic party bosses ordering him to change his position and to advocate impeachment or risk political reprisals. The defection of the freshman congressman and former longtime state senator was seen as a shot in the arm for a party already holding the majority in the U.S. Senate, occupying the White House and hoping to wrest control of Congress from the Democrats. Reached by phone during the drive back from Washington to Ocean City, Barr said the enormity of the experience hadn’t fully hit him. “I’m still decompressing,” he said with a laugh. “The day was much more than I ever could’ve imagined.” It didn’t start out so well. Through no fault of Barr’s, personal information supplied to the Secret Service was incorrectly entered, and thus did not check out with security personnel when Barr and Michelle Eggleston arrived at the White House’s entry gate. “They had my incorrect birthdate and no information at all on Michelle,” Barr explained. “It was a little uncomfortable there for a while. The Secret Service agents were treating us with a great deal of suspicion.” Barr, who was born with cerebral palsy, was forced to wait in Thursday’s 20-degree cold for 90 minutes until agents sorted everything out. In the meantime, he said, dogs were deployed to sniff his wheelchair and van. Bob Barr, pictured at his Roosevelt Boulevard home in Ocean City, represents the Fourth Ward. Unfortunately, Eggleston’s personal information could never be found and she was forced to wait at a nearby parking garage while Barr was finally admitted to the famous West Wing. He was led to a waiting room outside the Oval Office and eventually ushered inside for Van Drew’s ceremony and a brief impromptu press conference. “You see all the speeches and events which have taken place in that room throughout history, and there I was. It was almost surreal,” Barr said. At the conclusion of the event, Van Drew and his staffers and guests started to leave when Trump asked Barr to wait. “I want you to stay,” the president told him. “He motioned for me to come over and sit right next to his desk,” Barr said. The only people left in the room were Barr, Trump, Pence and some senior staff people. The president had gotten wind of Bob’s difficulties at the security checkpoint and wanted to know exactly happened, which Barr related. “He told me that was unacceptable and asked if I wanted to stay for a while and have something to eat.” Bob Barr is expected to return to the White House for a second meeting with President Trump in 2020. (Photo credit Whitehouse.gov) Barr thanked Trump but politely declined, explaining that Eggleston was waiting and there was a long drive ahead. He also mentioned that Trump might have known his father, the late Jerry Barr, a former vice president at the old Sands Casino in Atlantic City. “He remembered him right away, and of course he knows all about Ocean City from his time working in Atlantic City,” Barr said, referring to Trump's former casino ownership. The president then put Barr in contact with one of his staffers and offered him and Eggleston a return visit in the new year. The encounter lasted “maybe 15 minutes,” Barr said. “In that situation, everything was so overwhelming it’s hard to judge exactly how long it was.” OCNJDaily.com followed up with Barr on Friday and he said he had spent much of the day re-living his experience and sharing it with friends. He also exchanged text messages with Van Drew. “I just told him how proud I was of him,” Barr said. “I will work as hard as I possibly can to help the congressman’s re-election.”