Michelle Wolf triggered all the Deplorables at the WH Correspondents’ Dinner
April 29, 2018When Barack Obama was president, he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner every year. One could argue that Obama attended because the media loved him, which is true to a certain extent, but he also attended the WHCD because he believed in a free press, he believed that a healthy fourth estate was vital to democracy, and he believed that the work of the press deserved to be celebrated.
Donald Trump doesn’t believe any of that. Trump is a fascist who believes that no one should be allowed to make fun of the emperor (when he’s the emperor). He believes all factual information about him and his administration is “fake news.” He’s also a gigantic thin-skinned scaredy cat who would throw a f–king tantrum if he ever came face to face with mild criticism. So, yeah, for the second year in a row, Emperor Baby Fists did not attend the WHCD. Nobody missed him. If anything, people probably had a better time without him there. In his place, Sarah Huckabee Sanders attended. And she had to sit through the keynote comedy speech by Michelle Wolf. And it was amazing. Wolf’s speech reminded me strongly of Stephen Colbert’s infamous WHCD during Dubya’s reign, in that everyone was uncomfortable, few people laughed and it was the absolute truth:
THERE IS SO MUCH. And it was all good. Wolf realized – as Colbert realized all those years ago – that the most iconic WHCD speeches are the ones that are for the audience at home, not for the people in the room. Wolf’s speech got a bad reaction across the board, with journalists, administration officials, congressmen and lobbyists all crying about how “mean” she was. But to my eyes and ears, it landed to everyone at home. People were particularly mad about the Sarah Huckabee Sanders bit, where Wolf joked:
“We are graced with Sarah’s presence tonight. I have to say, I’m a little star-struck. I love you as Aunt Lydia on The Handmaid’s Tale… Mike Pence, if you haven’t seen it, you would love it. I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s really resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies! It’s probably lies. Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited, because I’m not really sure what we’re going to get. You know, a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams. ‘It’s shirts and skins, and this time don’t be such a little b—-, Jim Acosta!’ And I’m never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you know? Is it Sarah Sanders, is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is it Cousin Huckabee, is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? What’s Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh, I know. Aunt Coulter.”
Even Maggie Haberman – NYT-journalist who protects her sources within the administration – was critical of the jokes about Huckabee Sanders. All of the Deplorables were terribly triggered about how Wolf “attacked” all of the “women” within the administration, but I’d just like to point out that Michelle didn’t say anything about Mother (Mother’s Husband did get a few jokes). But yeah, the rest of them can rot. I’m enjoying the meltdowns about how terribly UNFAIR it is for Sarah Huckabee Sanders – who is an absolute a–hole – to be mildly criticized.
Photos courtesy of Getty.