This year’s WHite House Correspondent’s Dinner will be purposely bland.
The WHCA has cancelled comedian Amber Ruffin from giving the annual stand up act entertainment at dinner.
Why? Cowardice, fear of reprisal from a president who has already banned the Associated Press from covering him, and rearranged coverage throughout the administration to exclude mainstream media and promote fringe, right wing groups.
It’s pretty pathetic. The WHCA is supposed to support free speech. Now they — like law firms and banks — are waving the white flag.
Ruffin, a player on Seth Meyers’ talk show — is hilarious. But she’s also a woman, and Black, the two things that scare Trump to death. (She’s also an accomplished writer of Broadway shows.)
The current head of the WHCA is 36 years old Eugene Daniels, who is also Black and looking to make a name for himself next with a show on MSNBC.
Daniels said the board of the WHCA voted unanimously not to have any comedic performances at the April 26th dinner.
“At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists,” he said.
Curiously, the group’s website has no indication of the change and is still touting Ruffin as host (at 6pm Saturday).
Trump, who’s treated the Fourth Estate with no respect, and continually berates and belittles them during press conferences, is being let off the hook by Daniels. It’s a stunning decision.
Daniels said in his statement that the board was “re-envisioning” the dinner and that details are forthcoming. Will they just present awards to reporters and not let anyone speak about the current state of affairs ? My guess is members will feel betrayed by their organization. Ruffin certainly must. I’m curious to see if this is dealt with at all on Seth Meyers’ show this week. After all, it was his 2015 hosting of the dinner — during which he picked up apart Trump mercilessly — that gave the aspiring fascist the idea to run for president at all.
As for Daniels, let MSNBC know he has lost all credibility.
