Trump gives thumbs-down to Michelle Wolf’s routine
WASHINGTON — The reviews are in: President Donald Trump gave a thumbs-down Sunday to the comedian who roasted his chief spokeswoman at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, offending present and past members of his administration, including one who walked out in protest.
The organization’s leader said she regretted that Michelle Wolf’s routine may end up defining an evening that was designed to rally around journalism.
WHCA President Margaret Talev said she has “heard from members expressing dismay with the entertainer’s monologue and concerns about how it reflects on our mission.” She said she will work with the incoming president of the group and take comments from members on their views “on the format of the dinner going forward.”
Trump joined in the
criticism.
“Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents Dinner was a very big, boring bust … the so-called comedian really ‘bombed,’” Trump tweeted Sunday.
The president, who regularly lobs sharp attacks at the news media, including individual news organizations and reporters, declined to attend the journalism awards dinner for the second consecutive year. He instead held a campaign
rally in Michigan.
Wolf is known as a contributor on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.” But some of her jokes, particularly a series of barbs about White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as Sanders sat just feet away, seemed to spark the most outrage.
Sean Spicer, who preceded Sanders at the White House lectern, tweeted after dinner that the night “was a disgrace.”