Every year, the White House press corps throws itself a gaudy party oozing with excess. Known as the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, the event has turned into a week long party overflowing with booze and, weirdly, even corporate sponsorship.
And just like last year, President Trump wants no part of the mess.
“The White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year’s dinner,” WHCA President Margaret Talev said in a statement. Instead, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders will “represent the administration at the head table,” Talev said.
The White House press corps is overpopulated by the heavily liberal mainstream media. And like in year’s past, the MSM will laud and praise members of the MSM. At this year’s dinner on April 28, the association will honor CNN with its biggest award for the liberal network’s January 2017 report on how the intelligence community believed Russia had compromising information on Trump.
Seriously.
Lester Holt of NBC News will receive an award, as New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman — who Trump has described on Twitter as a “Hillary flunky” who “knows nothing about me” — will be honored with an award for showing “her deep understanding of what makes President Trump tick,” WHCA judges said.
No, really.
The dinner has a long history, and usually, the president of the United States roasts the media in a good-hearted way. But the event became more and more partisan during the two terms of George W. Bush, and then fell completely political during Barack Obama’s presidency, turning into a liberal lovefest.
Meanwhile, the entertainment at the dinner has become highly partisan, as well. In 2017, the WHCA decided to pick comedian and “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj. He was predictably unfunny. He joked about Russia: “The leader of our country is not here. That’s because he lives in Moscow, it’s a very long flight.” He joked about Trump playing golf: “The longer you keep him distracted, the longer we’re not at war with North Korea.” He joked about Trump not attending the dinner: “He’s done far too much bombing this month.”
And he called Trump the “liar in chief.”
Turns out 2018 will be more of the same. While the dinner once attracted big stars, the WHCA picked Michelle Wolf, a contributor to “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” who has a new show on Netflix, as the entertainment for the evening.
Wolf is another bona fide Trump hater. “I think Trump might be our dumbest president ever,” she tweeted in October. “And that’s including all the ones that thought leeches were medicine.” On Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser, Wolf tweeted last April that she “helps women about as much as an empty box of tampons.”
So, it makes perfect sense that Trump will give the dinner a pass. But not to worry, the White House press corps will still gather to praise itself for its wonderful work in 2017. That much you can bank on.
