While the debate rages about what comedian Michelle Wolf did or did not mean by specific jokes in her White House Correspondents’ Dinner monologue this weekend, and the level of seriousness with which we should all approach them, and how to react to the entire debacle, the Correspondents’ Association itself has officially weighed in with a statement to members on Sunday night. Turns out, they aren’t over the moon about the whole thing.
“Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people,” President Margaret Talev said in the statement, which the WHCA shared to social media. “Unfortunately the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.” She also encouraged the association’s members to share their “views on the format of the dinner going forward.”
The statement echoes Talev’s comments to Politico earlier in the day about Wolf’s jokes. “Some of them made me uncomfortable and did not embody the spirit of the night. And that is protected by the First Amendment,” she said in part. “I appreciated Sarah Sanders for joining us at the head table and her grace through the program.”
