Ron Chernow Honors Journalists at White House Correspondents’ Dinner with a History Lesson
WASHINGTON — President Trump once again skipped this year’s annual White House Correspondents Association dinner, instead holding a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“Is there any place that’s more fun than a Trump rally?” he asked the crowd.
The Correspondents Dinner already had been a contrast to the Obama years, when the event was populated by A-listers and studio executives and members of the cabinet. Far fewer showbiz types were present this year, leaving the focus on much more sober topics of attacks on the press and the First Amendment.
Historian Ron Chernow, the author of “Alexander Hamilton,” on which the Broadway sensation is based, was the featured speaker, a departure from years past when a comedian offered biting quips and roasts of those in the room. But last year’s featured entertainer, Michelle Wolf, proved to be too much for a number of journalists and D.C. politicos, as she directed her provocative humor at some of those who were in attendance, including White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway.
After a few self-deprecating remarks, Chernow told the story of a Norwegian tale called “Enemy of the People” – a not-so-subtle jab at Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric – in which a man is punished by his village for speaking an unpalatable truth, and likened the character’s plight to those of journalists.
“Campaigns against the press do not get your face carved on Mt. Rushmore,” Chernow said. “But when you chip away at the press, you chip away at our democracy.”
Chernow stressed that Trump wasn’t the first American president (“and won’t be the last”) to have “jitters” about the media, before noting this country’s “best presidents” who have handled the press with “wit, grace, charm and humor.”
The historian’s speech, which championed a free press and more unified nation, quoted everyone from James Madison to Martin Luther King and Mark Twain.
“Whether Democrats or Republicans, we are all members of bonafide USA and not members of enemy camps,” he said.
In closing, the writer remarked: “As we head into election season, I leave you with one last gem from (Mark) Twain: ‘Politicians and diapers must be changed often and for the same reason.’”
The White House also reportedly asked members of the administration not to partipcate in the dinner, a reflection of the chilly state of relations between Trump and the news media. That absence, however, didn’t diminish attendance at the event at the Washington Hilton. It still sold out, and WHCA President Olivier Knox said that they had to refund some requests to attend.
Despite the Trump administration boycott of the dinner, some Trump associates did attend other events. Conway and Rudy Giuliani, one of the president’s lawyers, were at the annual Garden Brunch on Saturday, a mix of media celebrities, lawmakers and business executives. Also at the event, held at the Beall-Washington House in Georgetown, was Rod Rosenstein, the recently departed deputy attorney general.
For a few moments Rosenstein chatted with Jay Leno, who was there to help honor military veterans. Leno presented an award to Master Sgt. Angela Morales-Biggs.
Leno, too, noted the talk that this year was “painfully slow on celebrities. Pretty much reached the bottom of the barrel here. ‘Well, let’s get Leno. He’ll come in!.’”
On Friday, UTA and Mediate hosted an event that drew many of the agency’s news clients, as well as former Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jordan Klepper and Minnie Driver. The TV show “Extra” was covering the event, but its special correspondent was Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary, and he interviewed such figures as Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) for several minutes. If this year didn’t have quite the glitz and glam of years past, they’ll make due.
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