Posted on 02/26/2017 12:28:00 PM PST by Kaslin
To hear the amount of consternation coming from the cable news community you’d think that the United States was about to invade Canada. Shock waves are roiling the press over President Trump’s Twitter announcement saying that he would not be attending this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner. Could this be the end of Nerd Prom? (The Hill)
President Trump announced Saturday he will not be attending this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which is usually attended by the president.
“I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Oh, whatever shall we do? But all sarcasm aside, how is this in any way surprising? Not only is this informal evening of jokes and insider horsetrading completely outside of the Constitutional duties of the President, but it’s really of very little import to anyone outside of the Beltway. Those of us who have been around for a while are no doubt able to recall when this event received virtually zero attention even in the national press. It’s a somewhat more recent phenomenon to see clips from the various performances filling the airwaves for a few days after each event.
There’s also been a wave of criticism in recent years over the rather gaudy and frankly inappropriate nature of this meeting. It attracts a list of high profile celebrities who wind up sitting alongside both elected officials and media figures, all yukking it up while ignoring the irony of such a cozy gathering of members of the government and those whose job is ostensibly to hold them accountable. For the most part, even many of the jokes which are told fall completely flat with the average person who doesn’t spend their days and nights obsessing over what goes on inside the Beltway.
The real twist this year of course is the fact that the presumed guest of honor has a relationship with the press which is more akin to a series of drive-by shootings (from both sides) than any sort of friendly, good-natured rivalry. Since he’s not required to be there in the first place, what possible purpose would it serve for Donald Trump to show up and address this crowd? Previous presidents (including the last one who the media was absolutely in love with) would make a series of jokes about the press, but it was done in a friendly fashion. President Trump has not been in any mood to make jokes about the press because his battle with them has been all too serious. For their part, the media has been hounding him relentlessly since he first announced his plans to run for the White House. I would fully expect the jokes to be a lot more mean spirited this year.
The dinner will likely take place anyway. In fact, Trump’s absence may reinvigorate the affair. As John reported yesterday, some larger outlets had already announced plans to cancel their fabulous parties after the show. CNN wasn’t sure if they were even going to show up at all. Now, with the target of their ire no longer being present, they can feel free to pop the champagne corks and rub elbows in their usual chummy fashion. As for the President, I suspect he’ll find something else to do.
I don’t blame him at all. I’ve always thought it was a strange and undignified thing for a president to be doing anyway.
“Shock waves are roiling the press over President Trump’s Twitter announcement saying that he would not be attending “
Wait, I thought he was Hitler the fascist racist. Why would they want to have dinner with Hitler the fascist racist?
Knocking the fakenews media off its exalted perch is a big win for America!
Last year’s dinner was more of a roast of Trump than Obama anyway.
I think another FReeper had it right - he said that the news outlets were all planning to cancel their attendance as soon as Trump announced he’d go. When he said he wouldn’t - it spoiled their plan. This OP makes that seem plausible as after parties were being canceled and CNN was thinking of not attending. SCORE for Trump!
The MSM is the Country’s greatest threat.
Enabling parent companies include: Disney, Comcast, Time Warner.
nerds are jilted and angwy- just point and laugh-
I think it was on MediaBuzz today (good show, by the way) where someone mentioned that Trump might hold a big event on the same night, therefore drawing the media who cover him away from the dinner. Don’t know if that will actually happen, but I like the premise...
To me this gathering of swells has always had a stench.
The far-left claims that it anti-big business but they are bought on the cheap by big business and they love Big Media.
What we need is a White House roast of the media.
Piers Morgan suggested that the MSM was planning on not showing up in order to humiliate POTUS but Trump saw it coming and beat them to it.
i have enjoyed some of the humor that comes out of this dinner... however, i think it’s fantastic that President Trump declined the invite... what a way to take the wind out of their sails... CNN contemplating not going—haha! The President beat them to the punch... i love this guy...
This event always had a very strong subtext of “we are the real power here. We summon the President and he must come, we say rude things about him and he must endure it, we dismiss him, and he must go.” That just changed, and it isn’t any surprise that they feel cheated.
Yes. The dinner is traditionally a strange and undignified
thing for the President of the United States to be doing.
(Promised to have been VERY mean-spirited this time &
who knows, perhaps they’ll even be ill-mannered enough to
“gossip” about him behind his back.)
I don’t blame him. It only promised to be an especially
vitriolic torching of him & his whole family.
My tagline is correct. MSM is DEAD.
The press was considering not going to boycott Trump.
Now that Trump says he’s not going, they’re all outraged.
Let’s draw a distinction between the current President and the previous p(R)esent.
Won’t attend the nerd prom, hasn’t been on late night television since being elected, told ESPN to shove off on the “Presidential Bracket” for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, hasn’t released stupid White House videos of him and the VP running in business suits to promote fitness, has not once said “The cops acted stupidly.” and held a farce of a “beer conference”.
All this winning, I’m still not tired of it.
He's the absolute best. Always two steps ahead of the media whores, tweaking them in ways they can neither defend nor adequately respond to. He is truly doing God's work here on earth.
I hope it’s true, though, that he short-circuited a planned ‘dissing’ of him ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.