White House Correspondents Association President Eugene Daniels launched the group’s annual dinner with pointed remarks about President Donald Trump’s absence and wider complaints about what he called the press “very difficult” year.
“I know this has been a very difficult year for you guys. It’s been a difficult one for this association,” Daniels said.
“We’ve been tested and attacked, but our members get up every day, drive to the White House, planes, trains, cars, on one mission, and hold strong accountability.”
Daniels, who recently joined MSNBC full-time after a stint at Politico, commented within the first minutes of dinner, saying, “I feel this dinner is a little different than usual. There’s no president. There’s no comedian.”
The White House correspondent’s dinner host says Trump wants to show up “no one wants”
White House Correspondents Association Eugene Daniels held the annual dinner by criticizing Trump’s absence and highlighting a difficult year for the media. (Getty Images)
Saturday’s event marked another year without cards. Trump chose to skip dinner throughout his first semester. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also refused to attend. President Joe Biden attended all three dinners held during his tenure. Dinner in 2021, his first year in office, was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.
Traditionally, the event featured a stand-up routine with a media outlet and official Washington comedians. The event traditionally raises money for scholarships and programs that support WHCA jobs. It is often characterized by media, politics and star-studded crowds of Hollywood.
A big break from this year’s tradition was that the comedians weren’t roasting the president sitting in. Daniels announced last month that Comic Amber Ruffin’s scheduled performance has been cancelled and will be called part of the dinner “reenvironment.”
In a note to WHCA members, Daniels said he wanted to move away from the night’s focus to celebrate the journalism and the Free Press initiative from “politics of division.”
The anti-Trump comedian joke was that she was launched from the WHCA to speak “Sh-“.
The decision to cancel Ruffin comes a day after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budwich criticized the WHCA’s choice, calling the liberal Ruffin X’s “second comedian” and focused on previous hostility towards the Trump administration.
Ruffin responded with a sharp, satirical skit on the late Seth Meyers show. She joked, laughing at the idea of political fairness for “both sides.” Ruffin also commented, “When a bad person does something bad, you have to treat them with fairness and respect.”
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This year’s dinner comes amid growing tensions between the press and the Trump White House. Some media accused them of managing to stand by traditional news organizations at official events.
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Earlier this year, the Trump administration banned several news outlets’ pool events after choosing to ignore Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the US Gulf. A federal judge ruled that the administration appealed the decision but that the White House’s actions violated the constitution. We have also removed the traditional wire service slots in the rotating press pool.
