White House Correspondents Dinner

Ezra Klein: Obama Got Real at WHCD By Showing He’s ‘Annoyed at the Press’ and ‘Appalled at Republicans’
By Tom Johnson | April 27, 2015 | 5:17 PM EDT

Did President Obama do a standup comedy routine at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner? Not as much as he performed “a recital of brutal truths,” asserted Vox’s Klein in a Monday article.

For example, regarding Obama’s remark that his executive actions on climate change and immigration were “the right thing to do,” Klein noted, “That's not a joke. That's Obama's actual justification for the aggressive executive actions of his second term…[O]nly [at the WHCD] can [he] say what everyone already knows: his actions are huge, they are controversial, they push the norms of American politics, but fuck it, at a moment when American politics seems increasingly broken, Obama has decided to just go ahead and do what he thinks is right.”

'Progressive' Wolf Blitzer Praises Jane Fonda, Marie Harf
By Matthew Balan | April 27, 2015 | 1:04 PM EDT

CNN's Wolf Blitzer brought liberal actress Jane Fonda and Obama administration flack Marie Harf as his guests to Saturday's White House Correspondents Dinner. Blitzer gushed over Fonda and Harf during a live interview with colleague Brianna Keilar: "It doesn't get any better than Jane Fonda....Can you believe that I'm here with Jane Fonda? And Marie Harf, acting spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department – how cool is that?"

Woman Caught Texting During National Anthem at WHCA Dinner Is Washington Post Reporter
By P.J. Gladnick | April 26, 2015 | 2:04 PM EDT

The woman who enraged viewers of last night's White House Correspondents Association Dinner for furiously texting on her cell phone while the National Anthem was playing has been identified. She is Washington Post reporter Helena Andrews. Her strange excuses for her disrespect is sure to anger people even more.

Networks Give 15 Times More Coverage to Correspondents' Dinner Than Benghazi
By Kyle Drennen | May 5, 2014 | 11:57 AM EDT

On Monday, the three network morning shows provided 12 minutes 24 seconds to Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner but only CBS This Morning reported House Speaker John Boehner on Friday announcing a new investigation into Benghazi – a news brief that totaled a mere 47 seconds. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

This Morning co-host Charlie Rose noted: "Both parties on Capitol Hill are sniping over new a investigation of the deadly Benghazi attack." After a soundbite of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham discussing the scandal on Sunday's Face the Nation, Rose added: "House Speaker John Boehner is calling for a new investigation based on a White House memo released last week. Republicans say the document proves the Obama administration tried to spin the attacks for political gain." NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America completely ignored the story on Monday.

Daily Beast Writer Hails Obama for 'Weaponizing Comedy' at White House Correspondents Dinner
By P.J. Gladnick | May 3, 2014 | 12:12 PM EDT

"You want to know the real reason why I wasn't in the  White House Situation Room on September 11, 2012? Because Michelle would have kicked me in my mom jeans if she caught me in that room in a bad situation with Beyoncé."

Don't expect President Obama to tell that joke tonight at the White House Correspondents Dinner tonight for two reasons. One reason is that it makes reference to his notable absence from the Situation Room during the Benghazi attack as confirmed by the "Dude" guy on Fox a few days ago and Obama prefers that we not be reminded of this. The other reason is that the joke would make fun of himself. According to Daily Beast writer Dean Obeidallah, previous presidents such as Reagan, both Bush's, and Clinton fell short in the comedy department  because they told self-deprecating jokes at those dinners. And although Obama had for awhile kept up the tradition by also made fun of himself, he somehow advanced humor by switching to attacking others by "weaponizing comedy." Here is Obeidallah, heaping comedic praise upon Obama for attacking conservatives:

Fox News Producer Confronts Celebrities at Correspondents’ Dinner About Media Bias
By Paul Bremmer | May 2, 2013 | 11:44 AM EDT

What better place is there, really, to corner news executives about media bias than the White House Correspondents Association Dinner? That's what Fox News producer Jesse Watters of The O'Reilly Factor had in mind when he headed out with camera and microphone to the "nerd prom" this past Saturday.

Even though there's copious amounts of adult beverages at the WHCA dinner, it seems in vino veritas doesn't hold when it comes to media executives copping to their biases. Some simply denied the obvious while others were visibly agitated at the very premise of the question.

WaPo TV Critic Rewrites History On Late Night Comedian's 1995 Shtick Mocking Clinton
By Matt Vespa | February 21, 2013 | 6:17 PM EST

So, I take it that Lisa De Moraes didn’t go through her paper’s archives before she penned today's TV column in which she re-wrote history regarding Conan O’Brien's turn as emcee for the White House Correspondents Association dinner in April 1995. Yesterday it was announced that the late-night comedian would return this year as the master of ceremonies.

De Moraes suggested the O'Brien bombed the last go-around and seemed to take offense for late President Clinton, who was the butt of many of O'Brien's jokes 18 years ago.