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DOSSIER – This April 18, 2011, archive photo shows author Ron Chernow at his home in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York. The White House Correspondents' Association announced that author Ron Chernow will speak at his annual dinner in April. (Louis Lanzano, File / Associated Press)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – President Donald Trump said he may attend the White House Correspondents' Association dinner next year, as organizers have abandoned the usual format featuring an actor. But he may not be happy about the replacement.
The association of correspondents announced this week that the author of the 2019 dinner, Ron Chernow, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, biographer of presidents and statesmen, including George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, will be the guest speaker. But Chernow, like many historians, strongly opposed Trump's bid in 2016 and called it a "demagogue."
That did not stop Trump from declaring his victory Tuesday night after arriving in Florida for a break from Thanksgiving week.
"The so-called actress Michelle Wolf bombed so much last year," he tweeted. "This year, for the first time in decades, they will have an author in place of a comedian."
"Good first step in returning from an evening and an endangered tradition!" He wrote, adding, "Maybe I'll go?"
Presidents have traditionally attended dinner. But Trump, who has a particularly controversial relationship with the press, has ignored it for the past two years.
Some blame Wolf for his anti-Trump performance in 2018, which has been overstated against Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, and other White House staff.
For its part, Chernow, in 2016, joined other historians to worry about the rhetoric of the Trump campaign.
"Like many other historians, I have been deeply troubled by the Trump campaign – more deeply troubled than by any other presidential campaign in our history," he said in a video statement, alarmed by the fact that Americans could "forget who we are as a people and succumb to historical amnesia."
"We were all horrified by the many shocking statements of this man, but the omissions were no less frightening," he continued, citing the reluctance of the then-candidate to utter words like 39, injustice and tolerance or expressing emotions as kindness, compassion and empathy.
Chernow said in a statement issued by the association that he had been asked to "defend the First Amendment" in his speech and that he was "happy to oblige."
"Freedom of the press is still a hot topic, and this seems like the perfect time to get back to the basics," he said, adding that "Although I have never deceived for a comedian, I promise that my story the lesson will not be dry. "
Chernow declined to comment further when asked if her speech would include a review of Trump.
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Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italy in New York contributed to this report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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