“Would have been nice if he did this, like, yesterday, everybody knew this was coming.”
He has a long way to go trying to get his credibility back. I think he knows he Effed up hanging back “waiting.” You do not wait to be asked to the party in these situations.
The mayor is supposed to request the NG, the Gov. is not to force it on a city. That said, the word is she wouldn’t take his calls but did manage to get some input from the white hut.