Based on a huge explosion of tweets and print news articles and on-camera interviews, Michelle Wolf’s comedy routine, delivered at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 28, 2018, offended President Donald Trump and many of supportive Republicans.
Trump did not attend the White House Correspondents Dinner this year. He didn’t attend last year, either. Instead, he held a campaign rally in Michigan. At that rally, he spent more than an hour droning on about the things Trump always drones on about. Those topics included how he won the election (more than 500 days ago), his Mexican border wall, and how wonderfully the economy is humming along.
Wolf’s comedy routine echoed the style of her other appearances. She is an edgy comedian, whose material often pushes the envelope of political or social correctness. Trump’s supporters often claim not to care about political correctness. Many Trump supporters frequently say that his lack of political correctness is one of the things that led them to support Trump. Ironically, Wolf’s lack of political correctness has got Trump and his supporters all riled up.
Trump tweeted about the dinner, “While Washington, Michigan, was a big success, Washington, D.C., just didn’t work. Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents Dinner was a very big, boring bust…the so-called comedian really “bombed.” @greggutfeld should host next year!“
However, I can think of many things Trump has done — actions, not mere words — far worse than anything Michelle Wolf said at The Correspondents Dinner.
For example:
- The time that Trump tried sleep with the then-married Nancy O’Dell, which he discussed with Billy Bush. “Access Hollywood” recorded their discussion.
- The occasion that Trump slept with Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels) while he was married to Melania.
- The day that Trump referred to neo -Nazis as “very fine people” after the incidents in Charlottesville.
WHCA Reaction
Absurdly, the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) hired Wolf to deliver comedy rooted in jokes about people in the White House. The WHCA is now shocked that Wolf delivered comedy rooted in jokes about people in the White House.
Unfortunately, many journalists have gone along with the idea that Wolf went too far at the Correspondents Dinner. Some of them claim that she made fun of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ appearance.
In fact, Wolf did not make fun of Sanders’ appearance, but she did point out Sanders’ propensity to lie. Sanders lies nearly every time she steps up to the podium in the White House press briefing room. Wolf said that Sanders eye makeup creates “a perfect smoky eye.” That is a compliment, not a criticism.
Even more unfortunately, WHCA President Margaret Talev put out a letter to members of the WHCA on Sunday. That letter gives the impression that she didn’t know what kind of comedy routine Wolf would deliver. She threw Wolf under the bus and indicated that future the WHCA was considering revisions to future WHCD formats. This is more than a little distressing.
The Talev/WHCA letter is even more disturbing given what Talev said when the WHCA booked Wolf to headline the dinner: “I’m delighted to announce ‘Nice Lady’ Michelle Wolf as our featured entertainer this year,’ Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said in this morning’s news.
‘Our dinner honors the First Amendment and strong, independent journalism. Her embrace of these values and her truth-to-power style make her a great friend to the WHCA. Her Pennsylvania roots, stints on Wall Street and in science and self-made, feminist edge make her the right voice now,’ Talev added.”
Apparently the WHCA commitment to the First Amendment and strong, independent journalism, and speaking truth-to-power is very weak.
Ultimately, the biggest problem with the WHCA and others’ reactions to the dinner is that in the past, the President has always taken the stage and roasted the Washington press corps, Congress and whoever else he has wanted to make jokes about. Then, a headliner has taken the stage and roasted the President. Both sides — the White House and the Press — have roasted each other.
However, by not attending the event, Trump has removed that balance. By not participating, he can play the victim. Also, this year, neither of his surrogates (neither Conway nor Sanders) took the stage, so the situation was completely unbalanced.
That is what’s wrong with the White House Correspondents Dinner. The problem is not the jokes told by Michelle Wolf.