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Author and historian Ron Chernow speaks at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington on Saturday and Saturday.
James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
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James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
Author and historian Ron Chernow speaks at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington on Saturday and Saturday.
James Lawler Duggan / Reuters
Separate events on Saturday night in the nation's capital and a Wisconsin arena painted two different images from the press.
In Washington, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, an annual comic event, was light in jokes and full of warnings about the consequences of attacks on the free press.
Meanwhile, President Trump rallied his supporters in Green Bay, touting economic growth and repeating familiar calls for "fake news" to an enthusiastic crowd.
He also denigrated the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller, mocked the Democratic presidential candidates, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and praised the media presence at his rally. "Can you imagine Sleepy Joe, Crazy Bernie … Can you imagine one of those people here doing what I do?" he said.
"I think, Pocahontas, she's finished, she's out, she's gone," he also said, using his favorite nickname for Warren.
The president's decision not to participate in this glitzy annual event in favor of a campaign rally was no surprise. Trump has avoided dinner every year since he became president, breaking with more than three decades of tradition.
And, while some White House officials had planned to attend the evening as guests of various media outlets, the administration announced last Tuesday that it would completely boycott the celebration.
Olivier Knox, president of WHCA, asked the dinner participants to look to the journalists "suffering for their profession" in the world and to plead for the release of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist kidnapped while He was reporting in Syria in 2012.
"This is not [Trump’s] Dinner is ours, "says Knox. And he should stay ours. "
Another break with tradition: the main speech of the evening was delivered by historian Ron Chernow. The dinner usually featured a comedian making jokes at the expense of the president, who also offered his own roast politicians and media.
The format change follows a controversial performance last year by actress Michelle Wolf, who was criticized for her comments – mainly about the Trump administration – called "harsh" and "daring" .
Knox said that he had asked Chernow to speak as part of an effort to further focus the event on journalism itself. The WHCA has already been criticized for this event, especially because it seems extravagant, excessively comfortable with the White House and dismissed from its stated goal of supporting scholarships, as reported Politico.
In her speech on Saturday night, Chernow recounted the story of the White House journalists – addressing many points, from the way the press protected presidents' privacy to Eleanor Roosevelt's role in improving the numbers. female correspondents – while pleading for the free press. and the first amendment.
"Relationships between presidents and the press are inevitably difficult, almost always contradictory, but they do not have to be steeped in venom," he said.
Chernow also offered a comedy defense, quoting comedian Will Rogers, saying the country had reached a point where "people take their comedians seriously and their politicians like a joke". In this spirit, he made several jokes with varying degrees of success, including Mueller's report, Alexander Hamilton ("An Immigrant Arrived, Thank God, Before the Country Is Full") and his own speech ("a sedative 20 minutes "for the evening).
President Trump has decried Democratic presidential candidates and the media at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday.
Lauren Justice / Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Lauren Justice / Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump has decried Democratic presidential candidates and the media at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday.
Lauren Justice / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Shortly before Chernow and Knox talk about public mistrust of journalism and a wave of misinformation, a crowd at the Wisconsin president's rally chanted "CNN fears" while the president joked about the network.
"I'm going to tell you, you know what's scary?" Their ratings are zero, "he says. "Because people do not believe them."
Trump has spent a good part of the night promoting the US economy and talking about "unfair" business practices in countries like India and China. He pointed out that GDP growth of 3.2% in the first quarter showed that the economy was growing – and cited job gains in Wisconsin, a state that was a turning point in elections of 2016.
He also discussed the immigration and detention of undocumented migrants, stating that "illegal immigrants" arriving at the border are exerting "enormous pressure on communities, schools, hospitals and public resources, like no one has ever seen it before. "
At one point, she invited press advisor Sarah Sanders on stage and praised her. Sanders told the crowd that she was proud to work for the president.
"Last year, tonight, I attended a slightly different event, it's not really the best home, so it's an incredible honor," he said. she stated, referring to her attending the WHCA 2018 dinner, where she was the subject of several controversial cracks.
At the start of his rally, Trump also took the time to offer his condolences to the victims of Saturday's Saturday morning shootings near San Diego and to denounce anti-Semitism. "Our entire country is mourning the loss of life, praying for the wounded and expressing solidarity with the Jewish community," he said.
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