The White House Correspondents Association Dinner being held Saturday night is a D.C. institution first held in 1921 that awards reporters and raises scholarship money for journalism students. In recent decades the dinner has become a monster weekend bash for the media and the government officials they cover. Pre and after dinner parties and brunches bookend the dinner that has come to be known as the Nerd Prom. Media outlets vie with each other to get the best celebrity and government guests for their tables.
The dinner is traditionally attended by the president (since 1924)–who is roasted by a comedian (except Obama) and then makes his own speech written by joke writers. However that tradition was broken when President Trump refused to play the fool to the assembled government and media conspirators conniving to drive him from office. Trump did not attend the dinner once in the four years of his presidency, becoming the first president who did not attend at least one dinner. (Trump famously attended the 2011 dinner where Obama torched him, making some think that provided motivation for his 2016 presidential run.)
Joe Biden addresses the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, April 29, 2023, screen image via C-SPAN.
This year’s dinner will be attended by senior Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita, according to People magazine which published a list of celebrity guests for the dinner. LaCivita is a guest of CNN, as is senior Biden campaign official Mike Donilon.
NBC’s table is stocked with senior Biden officials: Jeff Zients, White House chief of staff; Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security; Janet Yellen, secretary of the Treasury; Bill Burns, CIA director; Ben LaBolt, White House communications director; Lisa Monaco, U.S. deputy attorney general.
But now, with Trump routinely leading Joe Biden in polling about six months from election day, the Democratic Party sent a press release to reporters this week warning this could be the “last” Correspondents’ Dinner if Trump is elected (hint, hint.)
Democrat rapid response director Alex Floyd posted, “NEW: @DNCWarRoom hopes everyone has a good time this weekend, because if Donald Trump wins in November, this Saturday could also be known as the *last* White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (But we’ll make sure that does not happen).”
NEW: @DNCWarRoom hopes everyone has a good time this weekend, because if Donald Trump wins in November, this Saturday could also be known as the *last* White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
(But we’ll make sure that does not happen). pic.twitter.com/p2dYMOVujj
— Alex Floyd (@alexjfloyd) April 25, 2024
Happy White House Correspondents’ Dinner! (And We’ll Make Sure It’s Not the Last)
APRIL 25, 2024
Ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“We hope everyone has a good time this weekend, because if Donald Trump wins in November, this Saturday could also be known as the last White House Correspondents’ Dinner. To state the obvious: Trump is a thin-skinned narcissist who – despite spending seemingly every waking moment glued to his seat consuming cable news – is constantly attacking the free press and unable to handle a little good-natured ribbing. He skipped the White House Correspondents’ Dinner every single year he was in office because of his deep-seated insecurities and pathetic desperation to be liked by the same people he rails against – and that was before he outright banned members of his administration from attending at all. Fun and jokes aside this weekend, Saturday is also a reminder of what’s at stake with an angry, vengeful Trump on the ballot. He may be a punchline, but he is also a sad, vindictive wannabe authoritarian who shows no respect for the First Amendment – or the Fourth Estate.”
The press release then went on to list Trump bashing media reports to remind reporters suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome what life was like for them under a Trump presidency.
Trump is too thin-skinned and insecure to handle a little teasing…
Vanity Fair: “Trump Gets Roasted After Declining Third White House Correspondents’ Dinner”
Reuters: “Trump orders administration officials not to attend White House correspondents dinner”
NPR: “Trump Will Be First President In 36 Years To Skip White House Correspondents’ Dinner”
Washington Post: “With self-deprecation on menu for presidents at correspondents’ dinner, it’s no wonder Trump is skipping it”
Politico: “Trump’s Jokes Killed DC’s Sense of Humor”
… and has repeatedly stoked anger against the media and defended violent attacks on members of the press.
Vanity Fair: “Trump Campaign Denies Press Credentials for Several Journalists”
Trump: “The Fake News Media in our Country is the real Opposition Party. It is truly the Enemy of the People! We must bring honesty back to journalism and reporting!”
CNN: “Trump calls journalists ‘bad people’ at rally a week after newsroom shooting”
Politico: “[Trump] returned to scathing attacks on the news media just one week after a gunman killed five journalists at a Maryland newspaper. He derided the press as ‘fake news,’ ‘bad people’ and ‘so damn dishonest.’ ‘They’re fake,’ he said, pointing at the press area in the arena. ‘These are really bad people.’”
Associated Press: “Trump says media is ‘Enemy of the People’ after shooting, bomb plot”
New York Times: “In urging the crowd to vote for Representative Greg Gianforte, who is running for re-election and who was sentenced to anger management classes and community service for assaulting a reporter last spring, Mr. Trump jokingly warned the crowd to ‘never wrestle him.’ ‘I had heard he body-slammed a reporter,’ Mr. Trump said, noting that he was initially concerned that Mr. Gianforte would lose in a special election last May. ‘I said, ‘Wait a minute. I know Montana pretty well; I think it might help him.’ And it did.’ ‘Anybody that can do a body-slam,’ the president added, ‘that’s my kind of guy.’”
Reports like those above tend to create more Trump voters, even if they drive the likes of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to early morning fits of rage.
Note: Starting in 1999 and running straight through the early 2010s, this writer protested liberal media bias outside the dinner with the FReepers from Free Republic. Our gathering, while direct and passionate, will likely be looked back on with relief after Hamas supporting communists and Islamists protest this year’s dinner.
Paul Bond, formerly with The Hollywood Reporter, wrote about the FReepers’ tribute protest for Andrew Breitbart outside the 2012 dinner.
That’s so cool you remembered me and that story. Thanks for jogging my memory. Great having drinks with you guys that night as I typed out the story in the bar, as I recall. I’m surprised that story survived, as THR purged a lot of my old (and best!) stories a while ago.
— Paul Bond (@WriterPaulBond) April 27, 2024
Video of Obama torching Trump at the 2011 dinner:
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