Trump turns Correspondents’ Dinner into merciless drubbing of his foe as he trolls enemies with pitch for fourth time remark.
Earlier,.the White House said Friday that President Donald Trump’s first-ever White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech would be, in part, ‘vicious.’
And as the night wore on, it indeed lived up to that billing, as the commander-in-chief used his remarks both to praise, and at times, to excoriate some of the biggest names in Washington’s press corps and beyond.
Trump leveled barbs towards California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Bruce Springsteen and Rosie O’Donnell, among many, many others.
Incoming WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich ‘can be nasty,’ Trump said of Fox News’ White House correspondent, before taking aim at Heinrich’s husband, a Republican congressman, for voting against him on several occasions.
Trump also claimed the WHCA award given to CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins earlier in the night ‘was all about me’. ‘It’s a fake,’ he said.
‘She shouldn’t get the award’.
‘You’re at CNN fake news,’ Trump added, directing his remarks at Collins. ‘You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan. Just smile.’
The dinner was rescheduled after the original event on April 25 was dramatically canceled when bullets rang out in the dining hall as a gunman opened fire outside.
Trump opened his speech on Friday by saying ‘the show must go on’, before launching into a characteristic tirade comprising humorous quips and fiery insults.
In closing the remarks, Trump jokingly invoked the prospect of running for a fourth term.
‘Tonight, to show just how much I care about the press, and [because] I want to save your ratings,’ Trump said to the press, ‘[I want] to announce my intention – and this is somewhat of a scoop – my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States.’
