WHCA

Muslim-American Comedian Chosen to Headline Trump-Less White House Correspondents Dinner

Posted by on April 11, 2017 at 4:24 pm. 2 Comments :

On April 29, the White House Correspondents Association will host its annual charity dinner (WHCD). Often referred to as the “Nerd Prom,” it attracts guests from both politics and the press. Ordinarily the president is a featured guest who delivers his own comic monologue. This year, however, Donald Trump declined to attend and has directed his administration to stay away as well.

Hasan Minhaj

That may be for the best considering Trump is not known for his comedic ability. Last October Trump tried to perform an allegedly comic routine at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner. It’s an event sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York to benefit the poor, sick, and underprivileged. But Trump’s speech was a crushing embarrassment. He landed some plodding duds and insulted the Catholic audience and the evening’s other guest of honor, Hillary Clinton.

So this year’s WHCD will proceed without Trump. That makes him the first president to snub the dinner since Ronald Reagan missed it thirty-six years ago. However Reagan had a better excuse. He was recovering from having been shot.

The headliner for this year’s dinner will be The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj. This is a particularly interesting choice for several reasons. Minhaj is a Muslim-American comedian who has not been shy about bringing Trump into his act. Roasting Trump in absentia ought to make the event especially enjoyable. And there is an abundance of possible material due to Trump’s relentless bigotry aimed at Muslims. For a taste of what Minhaj might cook up, here are some examples of his past work:

At the Radio and Television Correspondents Association last year (video from CSPAN), Minhaj got right to the point. His commentary included a swipe at the timidity of the media. Along with slamming Fox News because he had “never seen so many people with spray tans hate people of color,” he said that:

“The New York Times, the Washington Post – they don’t call [Trump] a racist. They say his comments are ‘racially-tinged.’ No, I’m racially-tinged. That dude is racist, straight up.”

On a memorable episode of the Daily Show, Minhaj worried about Trump’s Muslim policies saying that:

“Donald Trump is an extremist leader who came out of nowhere. He’s self-financed, recruits through social media, attracts his followers with a radical ideology to take over the world, and is actively trying to promote a war between Islam and the West. That’s right. Trump is White ISIS – WHISIS.”

On an episode of the Daily Show immediately following Trump’s election, Minhaj expressed some of the common fears of the American people, particularly people of color. With regard to Trump’s call for a ban on all Muslims coming into the United States, Minhaj wondered “How is that not instantly disqualifying?” He’s had plenty to say on this subject. He began this segment noticeably shaken:

“Like many Americans I have spent the last twelve hours refreshing the Canadian immigration website, which keeps crashing. So I am panicking because melanin doesn’t rub off.”

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

All of this promises an entertaining night of comedy and political grilling. Until then, you can watch the rest of the post-election Daily Show episode here:

Chickensh*t Trump Blows Off White House Correspondents Dinner: Paging Alec Baldwin

Posted by on February 25, 2017 at 5:23 pm. 4 Comments :

Donald Trump has been fighting a bloody “War on the Media” for months now. His recent escalations included calling the “fake news” media the “enemy of the American people.” Shortly thereafter his press secretary, Sean Spicer, banned several news organizations from a White House briefing. The animosity from Trump gets more intense by the hour.

Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump

In his latest assault Gen. Trump has just announced that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29. The WHCD is an annual affair that is held to raise funds for scholarships. But apparently Trump’s anti-media obsession overrules any interest in helping a charity.

The truth is more likely that Trump is afraid of having a close encounter with the “enemy.” He has never been particularly good at laughing at himself. That’s a personality flaw that’s common among narcissists. So rather than fraternize with the media he so fervently hates, and being the butt of their jokes, he canceled.

What’s more, the presidential guest of honor is expected to perform his own comedy bit. Just imagine how hard he would fall on his orange, spray-tanned face if he was pressed into that situation. Actually, you don’t have to image it. He painfully bombed when he was asked to tell a few jokes at the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner last October (video below). Guests at that event noted that, for the first time ever, the speaker was booed.

With Trump’s cancellation, this will be the first dinner in thirty years where a president was not in attendance. The last president to miss the dinner was Ronald Reagan. But he a darn good excuse. He was recovering from having been shot. Yet he still phoned in a joke. “If I could give you just one little bit of advice,” he said, “When somebody tells you to get in a car quick, do it.”

This may all be for the best. After all, polls show that the public overwhelming prefers the media to Trump. So the event could benefit by his absence. Parties who have been planning to bow out this year may change their minds and show up. Ratings for the TV broadcast could soar. And it might even help by increasing donations.

Additionally, the WHCA could send invites to Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton if they want some fire power on stage. Plus they could enlist an alternative Trump to sit on the dais. Something tells me Alec Baldwin would be available. And no doubt Trump himself would be home watching and tweeting about how horrible it is. SAD!

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Watch Trump’s embarrassing “comedy” routine here:

SRSLY? 34,000+ Tweets Later, Donald Trump Says ‘I Don’t Like Tweeting’

Posted by on January 18, 2017 at 2:26 pm. 2 Comments :

Donald Trump gave Fox News an interview Wednesday and it went pretty much like you might expect. Ainsley Earhardt tossed a few softballs at him, and he dodged them anyway. However, there were a couple of responses where he made news despite himself (video below).

Trump Twit

First of all, Trump was asked about his obsession with Twitter. He responded in a way that contradicts everything he’s done for the past couple of years:

“Look, I don’t like tweeting. I have other things I could be doing. But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press. And it’s my only way that I can counteract.”

For someone who doesn’t like tweeting, he sure devotes an awful lot of time to it. And his tweets often address significant issues, including trade, and foreign relations. Of course, just as often he’s merely bragging about himself or insulting others. But if he has other things to do, then why isn’t he doing them?

Trump’s excuse for tweeting so frequently is that it’s the only way to counteract all the dishonest press he gets. That’s got to come as a surprise to anyone who owns a television. Trump has been the recipient of more uninterrupted airtime than any other candidate – or human. The media broadcast his campaign stump speeches in full and took his phone calls on the air. When he wants press time he only has to ask for it and the networks oblige. If there is any lack of Trump on TV it’s his own doing. Until last week he didn’t hold a press conference for seven months.

Clearly, there are many ways for Trump to counter what he regards as dishonest press. That includes friendly venues like Fox News, talk radio, and wingnut blogs like Breitbart. He obviously prefers Twitter because it doesn’t require much critical thought. There isn’t much of substance you can say with 140 characters. What’s more, it doesn’t open him up to questions he can’t answer or hold him accountable for his lies.

The other notable remarks from the Fox News interview concerned the controversy over the White House briefing room. Last week Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, floated the notion that the briefings might be moved to another location outside of the White House. That didn’t sit well with the journalists who would be evicted. Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) later met with Spicer and issued this statement shortly thereafter:

“The White House Correspondents’ Association has always advocated for increasing access and transparency for the benefit of all news outlets and the public. I emphasized the importance of the White House press briefing room and noted that it is open to all journalists who seek access now. I made clear that the WHCA would view it as unacceptable if the incoming administration sought to move White House reporters out of the press work space behind the press briefing room. Access in the West Wing to senior administration officials, including the press secretary, is critical to transparency and to journalists’ ability to do their jobs.’

Trump told Fox’s Earhardt that, due to the negative reaction, he didn’t think the briefing room would be moved for now. However, he also announced a new and unprecedented control over access to the briefings:

“Some people in the press will not be able to get in because there’s just too many people … we have so many people who wanna go in so we’ll have to just pick the people who go into the room. I’m sure other people will be thrilled about that.”

Currently the non-partisan WHCA is responsible for assigning credentials to reporters who seek admittance to the briefings. The politicians in the White House have no say. That insures that the room isn’t stacked with sycophants and propagandists as is done in dictatorial regimes. Apparently Trump favors the dictator’s methods. That may also be why his Washington, D.C. hotel just announced that it is banning all media during the inauguration. So much for a free press.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.