Donald ‘Fake News’ Trump‘s relationship with the press is tenuous at the best of times – he has excluded major outlets like CNN and The New York Times from briefings, and actually went as far as to call the news media “the enemy of the American people”, which is not concerning at all for a world leader in his position.
In light of this it’s not particularly surprising that Trump has piked out of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, the annual event honouring journalists who cover the White House. The President confirmed this today via his favourite medium of Twitter, and wishing everyone concerned a “great evening.”
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
The sitting president is generally the guest of honour at the dinner. The last time one didn’t attend was back in 1981, when Ronald Reagan gave it a miss, but he had a good excuse, having just survived an assassination attempt, and he still managed to phone in to joke around with journalists. The last president to skip it outright was Richard Nixon in 1972.
At the dinner, it is traditional for the president and the press to mock one-another, and the headlining comedian will usually subject POTUS to a light roasting. Given that Trump reacts about as well as Kanye when people make fun of him, it makes sense that he would have a hard time at something like this.
Jeff Mason, the president of the Correspondents’ Association, issued a statement shortly after Trump’s Tweet, saying:
“The White House Correspondents’ Association looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29. The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic. We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession.”
Last month, Bloomberg and Vanity Fair, who typically host a Correspondents’ Dinner after party, pulled the plug on the event.
Source: NPR.
Photo: Washington Post / Getty.
