The joke’s gone too far at the US presidential ‘roast’

Having a sense of humour — to be able to poke fun at yourself, and not get (easily) “offended” — is a great virtue. But what happened at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 29 — over the ‘friendly’ press tradition called the “roast” (yes, clever naming that!) was like standing out of line at the buffet counter. Comedian Michelle Wolf had this to say of Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary to President Donald Trump: “I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful. But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye…Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.” Trump had skipped the dinner himself, and Sanders was left to face the brunt. Obviously a polarised viral hell broke out soon after, and we probably believe Ms Wolf when she came out in her own defence by stating she was actually complimenting Sanders’ looks. But here’s the thing: right after calling the absent President “a racist, a misogynist or xenophobic or unstable or incompetent or impotent”, when you say his press secretary is a liar, you need to expect some brickbats. Someone tweeted, “That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.”

Overreaction? Maybe not. Let’s put this in perspective. At the 2015 dinner, (then) US president Barack Obama was funny; he said stuff like, “The fact is I feel more loose and relaxed than ever. Those Joe Biden shoulder massages — they’re like magic. You should try one.” In 2000, (then) president Bill Clinton was also funny. “I’m so glad that Senator McCain is back tonight,” he said. “I welcome him, especially. As you all know, he just made a difficult journey back to a place where he endured unspeakable abuse at the hands of his oppressors, the Senate Republican caucus.” We think that set the bar: intelligent, witty, a mild dose of ribbing. At the dinner table, it’s alright to be anti-establishment and all of that, but to get in a personal touch of nasty is, well, nasty.