CNN’s chief media correspondent Brian Stelter fretted Tuesday afternoon that President Trump’s decision to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner amounted to “an attack against the media.”
“Say what you will about the press,” fussed CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, “This is an event that honors the First Amendment!”
“Yes!” agreed Stelter. “That’s what it’s about. It’s an awards dinner and a fundraiser. In the past, presidents have always shown up, even if they were angry at the press at the time,” he added.
Earlier in the day, CNN reported that the White House reportedly ordered all Trump administration officials to boycott the WHCD, which is scheduled for Saturday night.
“The usual tensions between reporters and government representatives have escalated to extreme levels in the Trump age, due largely to the president’s near-daily attacks against the media,” CNN “reported.”
In reality, tensions between Trump and the anti-Trump media have risen because he refuses to put up with their dishonest, unfair, and ridiculously biased coverage of his administration.
Earlier this month, Trump told reporters he was skipping the event “because the dinner is so boring and so negative that we’re going to hold a very positive rally instead.” He ultimately decided upon Green Bay, Wisconsin.
I will be in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday, April 27th at the Resch Center — 7:00pm (CDT). Big crowd expected! #MAGA https://t.co/BPYK8PF0O8
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2019
According to CNN, the order to shun the WHCD came from Trump personally, and “staffers have been trying to talk him out of it,” supposedly.
“It’s useful for White House aides to schmooze with reporters,” Stelter told Baldwin. “It’s helpful for us to get to know our sources. There’s some value in these sorts of festive events.”
Stelter lamented that during the Trump era, the gala was being “put on pause.”
“It’s yet another example of what we’re seeing — the administration’s attack against the media takes many forms,” Stelter declared. “One form is the president having a rally this Saturday instead of attending the dinner. And I do think it matters, mostly because of what it means about these tensions continuing to escalate,” he added.
CNN’s Brian Stelter says Trump administration officials skipping the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an “attack against the media” pic.twitter.com/hrXwRy0Nx7
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 23, 2019
To hear Stelter and Baldwin complain bitterly about these incomprehensible “rising tensions,” you’d almost think that the last three years of the media’s malicious, Russia-obsessed coverage of Trump — working in tandem with the deep state, first to torpedo his candidacy, then to hobble his presidency and ultimately lead to his impeachment — never happened.
But it did, of course, and so the president very understandably wants nothing to do with them.
Accordingly, their attempts to portray themselves as victims of “attacks” because the president fights back, are truly pathetic.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member