Once again this year President Trump blew off the White House Correspondents Dinner in favor of a rally elsewhere. In addition, the WHCD didn’t feature a comedian headliner, choosing instead presidential biographer Ron Chernow to lead the proceedings. Others also took part, but even though Trump wasn’t in attendance, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t still the real headliner. Here are some examples, starting with Chernow stating why Trump won’t be carved into Mt. Rushmore:
“Campaigns against the press do not get your face carved in Mount Rushmore because when you chip away at the free press you chip away at the heart of democracy.” — Ron Chernow #WHCD2019
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 28, 2019
Presidential biographer Ron Chernow defends the First Amendment at the #WHCD: “Campaigns against the press don’t get your face carved into the rocks of Mount Rushmore, for when you chip away at the press, you chip away at our democracy” pic.twitter.com/WETRkA08hK
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 28, 2019
Trump wasn’t there, but he WAS there.
Ron Chernow: “Donald J. Trump is not the first and won’t be the last American president to create jitters about the First Amendment.” #WHCD #NerdProm pic.twitter.com/hrfkl6xXiM
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 28, 2019
Sounds like a party.
WHCD sounds like a rollicking good time https://t.co/Uv3GxH5uyX
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) April 28, 2019
Sure does! *Eye roll*
Oddly enough, Trump might have been more present at the WHCD than he would have been if he’d actually showed up:
Ron Chernow speaks at WHCD: “George Washington felt maligned and misunderstood by the press, but he never generalized that into a vendetta against the institution” https://t.co/gB7bWc3Hzq pic.twitter.com/cfE4gmxJS3
— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 28, 2019
Historian Ron Chernow refers to Trump era as a “surreal interlude in American life” #whcd2019 pic.twitter.com/LIE9cdFO0Q
— Toby Harnden (@tobyharnden) April 28, 2019
“I don’t mind a president angling for the Nobel Prize for Peace but we don’t want one angling for the Nobel Prize for fiction” – Ron Chernow. #WHCD
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) April 28, 2019
Ron Chernow speaking at the #WHCD event: "We now have to fight hard for basic truths that we once took for granted." pic.twitter.com/Bvn99fQ6Lu
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 28, 2019
“Basic truths” and CNN aren’t always compatible.
But no, the WHCD wasn’t obsessed by Trump at all — why do you ask? The WHCA president helped show that Trump was living rent-free in the venue Saturday night:
White House Correspondents' Association president Olivier Knox (@OKnox): "I don't want to dwell on the president, this is not his dinner. It is ours and it should stay ours. But, I do want to say this…"#WHCD #NerdProm pic.twitter.com/tN56VNCjzQ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 28, 2019
Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, took on #Trump’s treatment of the press at the #WHCD: “Fake news and enemies of the people are not pet names, punch lines, or presidential” pic.twitter.com/ZUEJIlcl2y
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 28, 2019
For people who pride themselves on speaking “truth to power,” they seem to come across as if they’re under the thumb of the “power” an awful lot.
