With President Donald Trump sending his regrets, the attention was no longer focused on an in-person roasting of the commanderin-chief at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) on March 31. The red carpet that once featured Oscar winners, TV stars and a few major league athletes barely turned heads.
However, one of the stars of the event turned out to be Indian-American standup comedian Hasan Minhaj, whose speech roasting the US President went viral on social media. Minhaj, 31, whose parents hail from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, made fun of Trump for his perceived proximity with the Russians, his attack on the media and several of his campaign rhetoric.
“We gotta address the elephant that's not in the room. The leader of our country is not here. And that's because he lives in Moscow, it is a very long flight. It'd be hard for Vlad to make it. Vlad can't just make it on a Saturday! As for the other guy , I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke,“ Minhaj said amidst laughter from the audience. “Trump tweets at 3 AM sober. Who is tweeting at 3 am sober? Donald Trump, because it's 10 AM in Russia. Those are business hours,“ he added.
Minhaj also made fun of several top officials of the Trump administration. “Is Steve Bannon here? I do not see Steve Bannon. I do NOT see Steve Bannon. Not see Steve Bannon. Not-see Steve Bannon,“ he said. “Betsy DeVos couldn't be here, she's busy curating her collection of children's tears. Mike Pence wanted to be here tonight, but his wife would not let him because apparently one of you ladies is ovu lating. So good job, ladies. Because of you we couldn't hang out with Mike Pence,“ he added.
“Donald Trump is liar-inchief. Remember, you guys are public enemy number one. You are his biggest enemy . Journalists, ISIS, normal-length ties,“ Minhaj said as he went on to make fun of the media.“Fox News is here. I'm amazed you guys even showed up. How are you here in public? It's hard to trust you guys when you backed a man like Bill O'Reilly for years. But it finally happened. Bill O'Reilly has been fired. But then, you gave him a 25 million dollar severance package. Making it the only package he won't force a woman to touch,“ he joked.
“I know some of you are wondering, Hasan, how do you know so much about Fox News? Well, as a Muslim, I like to watch Fox News for the same reason I like to play Call of Duty .Sometimes, I like to turn my brain off and watch strangers insult my family and heritage,“ he added.
He said that the president would be tweeting about him at 3 am. “It's 11 pm in four hours, Donald Trump will be tweeting about how badly Nicki Minaj did at this dinner . And he'll be doing it completely sober. And that's his right. And I'm proud that all of us are here to defend that right, even if the man in the White House never would,“ Minhaj said.
GLUM RED CARPET, MORE FOCUS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH AT THE EVENT
Instead of star power and in-person roast ing of the Prez, speakers at the dinner promoted press freedom and responsibil ity and challenged Trump's accusations of dishonest reporting. The stars of the night were Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who re counted what they learnt about journal ism from their reporting that helped lead to President Richard Nixon's resignation more than 40 years ago. “Like politicians and presidents sometimes, perhaps too fre quently, we make mistakes and go too far,'' Woodward said, “When that happens, we should own up to it. But the effort today to get this best ob tainable version of the truth is largely made in good faith. Mr President, the media is not `fake news.'''
THE FIRST PRESIDENT IN OVER 30 YEARS TO BOYCOTT THE GALA
Celebrating the first 100 days of his administration, Donald Trump attacked the media for misleading the people with “fake news“ as he skipped the “very boring“ White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) to become the first president in over 30 years to boycott the gala.
“I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington's swamp, spending my evening with all of you with a much, much larger crowd and much, much better people. The media deserves a very big, fat, failing grade,“ Trump said sarcastically over the media's coverage of his achievements during his first 100 days in office. He said a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in the nation's capital, referring to the annual black-tie dinner at a luxurious hotel, which was sold out to more than 2,600 guests, comprising who's who of nation's political players, and top journalists along with celebrities and diplomats.
“They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents' Dinner without the President,“ 70-year-old Trump told his cheering supporters at a campaign-style rally at Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, a state which played a critical role in his electoral victory last November.
He told supporters that he was keeping “one promise after another“, dismissing criticism as “fake news“ by “out of touch“ journalists.
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