The Feckless White House Press Corps Has Become Something of An Embarrassment

It was only on April 25^th of this year, that the original White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was derailed by the alleged gunshots fired by a wannabe assassin as he sprinted through the lobby of Washington’s vaunted Hilton Hotel at 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW. The rescheduled event took place much nearer the actual White House, at the Waldorf Astoria hotel and was by comparison dull and uneventful.

 [It should be noted that the Waldorf Astoria hotel is established in the same building as the failed Trump International Hotel.]

By any measure, a formal dinner attended by the President of the United States should not be judged by the sounds of gunfire echoing in the halls of a structure, but dinner will be judged by the flat, leaden performance of Donald J. Trump as he delivered joke after joke that bombed badly and left the audience stone-faced, unimpressed and utterly silent.

No doubt, the many endless clunkers that Trump served up are not what this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner will be remembered for, wherever those memories are recorded.

What will be noted in history are the vile and vicious personal insults by Donald Trump as he used an entire hour to personally attack individuals who were seated in the room right in front of him.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is organized by the White House Correspondents’ Association and is intended as a celebration of the First Amendment and the role the press plays in protecting the rights of citizens to voice opinions and to have dialogue with their elected representatives without government oversight. The event is not per se, a roast. But jokes are meant to fly aplenty and occasionally those jokes may touch upon sensitive subjects.

In 2011, then President Barack Obama taunted the reality TV star – at the time – Donald Trump by mocking his former fixation on his birth certificate and instead he should focus on more important matters such as whether the moon landing was faked, the truth about Roswell, New Mexico, and the location of Biggie and Tupac; amongst other jokes.

It’s a given that Trump did not appreciate being humiliated in public by the nation’s first Black president. A man he obviously did not respect. There is more than one pundit who has suggested that Barack Obama’s smugly delivered liners at Trump’s expense, was one of the reason the six-times bankrupted real estate mogul, decided to run to succeed President Obama in 2016.

Whether or not that is true, it doesn’t drift far from the narrative. Does it?

At this year’s event, Donald Trump decided to attack one of his favorite targets, CNN reporter and journalist Kaitlin Collins. The rising star has earned a reputation for asking President Trump tough questions he would prefer not to answer or be repeatedly questioned about.

The two have tangled in front of the television cameras on several occasions.

As part of his monologue Trump mocked Collin’s personal appearance claiming he had mistaken her for Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer whose appearance in a Bud Light commercial so offended consumers, that the brand lost significant market share for a time.

The Bud Light mistake was historic, and this marketing miscalculation the President of the United States attached to a journalist’s name.

Donald Trump also accused Kaitlin Collins of being fake and that she should smile more. “You should be a happy person. So, smile Kaitlin. Just smile.”

Are women supposed to smile? Male reporters are never referenced in such a manner. The words were intended to marginalize her in front of an audience.

Who says Trump doesn’t know how to deliver an insult no matter how well-camouflaged?

Did the attendees in the room so much as much as murmur restlessly or jeer as the attack on their colleague by President of the United States continued, minute by minute.

God forbid the press corps in Washington DC; that has never held Donald Trump to any kind of standard whatsoever, so much as breathe loudly, less Trump find displeasure in their actions.

The current President of the United States of America is a lame duck in waiting.

His wings are about to be clipped badly because one house of the current congress is going to be lost to the Republican party. But as time has moved forward in #47s second term, he has become even more reckless and insulting in almost any forum.

Whether in press conferences, rallies or formal events the insults spew out like hot magma from a fissure in the earth, any time Donald J. Trump is made to feel uncomfortable. The press, however, has apparently decided that silence is best – no matter how weak and feckless their inaction has made them in the view of the public at large.

The atmosphere at the Washington Correspondents’ Dinner was stunning. Not only was Kaitlin Collins a target, but many other public figures were the targets of off-beat jokes that were as offensive as they were unfunny.

So, is this the new norm that is to be expected from this date forward?

A press corps that reacts to nothing no matter how boorish and distasteful. A crowd of privileged, mute people whose only answer to the classless individual up at the podium, that they are oh so familiar with is a blank stare and mouths that do not move or speak.

Once upon a time, the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner might have been an evening to take a break, enjoy a night out, and carouse with important people in Washington DC. That day has certainly come and gone, and with the current oaf in the White House, maybe it would be time to call a halt to the entire thing.

There’s no fun in it anymore. So, what’s the point?

There is no doubt that America is in the midst of a low-brow presidency. Not only does the nation’s Chief Executive hurl ridiculous personal insults at formal dinners and press conferences, but the White House itself has been drawn down into the muck and the mire by the recent MMA event that was hosted on the south lawn of the campus leading up to the 250th birthday celebration of the nation’s founding.

There is no need to repeat the egregious slander that was hurled at former First Lady Michelle Obama by an ingrate who thinks he’s an important sports personality, but the specter of such a comment being uttered in front of the President himself, and his total and complete lack of a response, is one more black mark against a classless individual who is setting the kind of negative records that will never be broken.

The country deserves better by a mile. Perhaps the only good thing that will come from the Trump years, is that previously unmotivated voters will be encouraged to get up off their rear ends and go out and vote.

This is only a brief taste of what’s on the way from MADDOX NEWS in the weeks and months ahead. Be sure to spread the word from and family, alike. Your help in getting this publication to grow will be much appreciated.