I have written repeatedly about the shockingly bad judgment shown by Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) and a Politico correspondent, in selecting an anti-Trump comedian for the dinner. Soon after her selection, Amber Ruffin declared that no one wanted President Donald Trump to attend or even be in the same room with him. For months, Daniels and the WHCA ignored the objections, but on Saturday issued a statement that Ruffin was unanimously sacked. The decision is welcomed, though belated. More importantly, there is no indication of any serious reflection on the poor judgment used in the original selection.
The WHCA has long shown a political bias in such comedians, but nothing quite as brazen as Ruffin. Even for the WHCA, it was beyond the pale and many of us had resolved not to attend this year.
Notably, the prior year, the dinner (which I attended) featured Colin Jost. The comedian (before the election) made a tearful comparison of Biden to his late Irish firefighting grandfather. It was nothing short of a public campaign endorsement.
They then selected someone who reportedly views the Trump administration as a gang of “murderers” who “feel like [they are] human beings, but … shouldn’t get to feel that way, because [they are] not.”
It was another blue plate special to be served up at the WHCA dinner.
However, this was about as inviting for Trump and Republicans as a meal with the Donner party.
While some of us were appalled by his choice, Daniels gave a full-throated endorsement of Ruffin and insisted that “Amber’s unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate.”
The group waited for a Saturday (the dead zone for media) to release a strikingly different statement from Daniels: “At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
Who needs a comedian when journalists do their own self-effacing pratfalls?
Prof. Turley — Miss Ruffin is a “comedienne,” NOT a “comedian.” It’s bad enough when liberal sources want to mislabel women comics this way, but when our own side does as well, it really stings. Another way to think of it: with so many transgenders in show business, calling a “transgender woman” a “comedian” must be the ultimate slap, since they want us to consider them women and not men. (Hearing the male form of this noun must really hurt!) I suspect Miss Ruffin would not only have used much cursing in her presentation, but also actual profanity (using God’s name-in-vain) too, which is reason enough to not want her at such an occasion. (An aside: isn’t it interesting when liberal types–who say they want “gender-neutral” language–continue to use the word “lesbian”? Nothing “gender-neutral” about “lesbian”!)
No, Daniels realized that having a hate filled, rabid, racist anti-Trump comic give a speech would just make it that much easier for the WH to drop the WHCA from their position of authority…but it is too little too late. It is over for the WHCA and picking this loon as it’s head shows just why.
MUSK/TRUMP CAN GO DIDDLE EACH OTHER
TRUMP IS A BOTTOMLESS PIT OF MORONIC EVIL AND VENGEANCE
Professor Turley, free speech works if the people value truth. It does not further anything when lies are valued.
If men were angels there’d be no need for government.
I feel sorry for whoever wrote “self-effacing pratfalls” at the end. Two proud traditions of “self-effacing” and “pratfalls” are diminished by their conflation.
Each has the property of not always being what it seems, but in opposite ways. What appears “self-effacing” might be the reverse, and what appear real might actually be “pratfalls”.
Of course, neither applies to the WHCA.
Another sad Turley effort to use his platform in an effort to soothe the MAGAts by trying to normalize Trump and portray the White House Correspondents as being unfair or victimizing Trump. But’s not working because he is not worthy to be the President of the United States. A few facts: Trump is a convicted felon. He brags about assaulting women, and has been adjudicated responsible for sexual assault and defamation. He stole from a charitable foundation and has been banned in New York State from being on the boards of charities. He is a chronic, habitual liar. He started an insurrection when he lost in 2020. He lied to get into office in 2024 by promising to immediately bring down the price of groceries. His first term in office was an utter disaster–destroyed the successful economy he inherited, botched handling of COVID, causing unnecessary deaths and illness. He has allowed his largest campaign donor to purchase the power to bully federal employees, fire them arbitrarily, gain access to and download sensitive personal information like Social Security files, tax returns, Medicare information, and to force their way into government offices. He allowed the firing of cancer researchers, scientists vetting the safety of medical devices, bird flu researchers, park rangers, air traffic controllers, and then tried to re-hire some of them. He shut down USAID, cut off funding for charities and school lunches, is trying to close down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that saved American consumers billions of dollars in unfair fees from banks and airlines, among other businesses. And, now, we learn that his unqualified and inexperienced Secretary of Defense not only used an unsecure platform to discuss a planned bombing in Yemen, the editor of The Atlantic was added–instead of admitting the error and pledging that it won’t happen again, Trump and his team of losers doubled down, blamed everyone else, including Biden and Goldberg, the Editor of the Atlantic. Hegseth allows his 3rd wife to attend meetings in which sensitive information is discussed–totally inappropriate. Two months in and he is carrying out Project 2025–something else he lied about. This second term is already a total disaster, and people have taken to the streets, at town halls and are inundating their representatives with complaints and demands to stop this nonsense. Trump’s polling is under water–a record for a new administration. He also has broken our relations with Canada, Denmark and Mexico by starting a trade war that the American people will pay for. The cold shoulder Vance and his little brown wifey got in Greenland should be a hint—the rest of the world doesn’t like Trump or his surrogates. Apparently, she is the only brown-skinned person who is acceptable in MAGAland.
Of course, everything Turley writes was purchased by MAGA media–always there to reassure the MAGAts that Trump is “owning the libs”, that mainstream media lie, that Musk is exposing waste, fraud and abuse that Democrats are probably profiting from… the lies go on and on. Trump won’t go to WHCA events because he is thin-skinned and can’t handle anything other than the gushing praise he gets from MAGA media. Turley says it was “poor judgment” to use Amber Ruffin, who has said that no one wants to be in the same room with Trump. She is right. However nothing Turley wrote in any way changes the fact that Trump is already massively unpopular and is destroying this country.
Your presence here speaks to the success of Professor Turley.
His triumph really hurts, doesn’t it?
Your screed on this blog is not dissimilar to burning a Tesla at a dealership, right?
Do, please, get it all worked out of your system, Karen!
Pull your head out andvbreath first. Best President ever. Enjoy!
So, you do or don’t like Trump? Your treatise was a little ambiguous.
Hey Anonymous–I think I know you. You’re my cousin living in Charleston, SC. She has been continually writing almost verbatim what you have posted. ‘Fess up–it’s you, right?
Bs
Goldberg is guilty of a crime by his own standards. He released classified information to the public by self incrimination,no security clearance for Goldberg. He felt fine reading and publishing it. Prison sentence as so many others have received.
“Anonymous” If you believe what you are saying, you would hide like a coward…
“Anonymous”… If you believed what you said, then you wouldn’t be a coward and hide behind “Anonymous”
Wow, in the time it took you to write this dirge you could have been outside enjoying either the good or bad weather, read part of a book, watched a good tv show or movie etc.
tl;dr
“A meal with the Donner party”. Professor Turley’s occasional deadpan zingers are the best part of this blog and the blog is great.
If only we could be Rodney Dangerfield back from the great beyond. He would give as much to the reporters as he would the President….and everyone would be falling off their chairs laughing!