Two top women from the Trump administration stared down comedian Michelle Wolf while she told crude and vulgar jokes about them during the White House Correspondents Association dinner Saturday evening.
There in lieu of President Trump, who chose to skip the annual gathering for press and politicos for a second year in a row to rally in Michigan, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was subjected to jokes about her weight and southern heritage, while counselor Kellyanne Conway endured a crack about having a tree falling on her.
“I have to say I’m a little star-struck,” Wolf said of Sanders, who was only a few feet away at the head table. “I love you as Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid’s Tale.“
“She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye,” she added. “Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.”
“And I’m never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders,” Wolf continued. “Is it Sarah Sanders? Is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Is it cousin Huckabee? Is it auntie Huckabee Sanders? What is Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh I know. Ann Coulter.”
Here’s Michelle Wolf’s take on White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. https://t.co/9Hn6dbt9Mw
— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) April 29, 2018
Wolf, who is a writer for the “Daily Show,” began her bit on Conway by critiquing her name and talking about how the media should boycott her so she “has nowhere to lie.”
“Kellyanne Conway has the perfect last name for what she does: Conway,” Wolf said. “It’s like if my name was Michelle Jokes Frizzy Hair Small Tits. You guys have to stop putting Kellyanne on your shows. If you don’t give her a platform, she has nowhere to lie. It’s like that old saying: If a tree falls in the woods, how do we get Kellyanne under that tree. I’m not suggesting she gets hurt. Just stuck.”
#WHCD host @michelleisawolf on Kellyanne Conway: “Man, she has the perfect last name for what she does” pic.twitter.com/WOBWqL9dKC
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 29, 2018
Conway could be seen with a stone-cold gaze as Wolf moved on to joke about Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter. and how she “done nothing to satisfy women.”
Now I’ve…
Had
The time of my life pic.twitter.com/d5QAvZFz7r— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 29, 2018
Appearing together on the red carpet before the main event at the Washington Hilton, Conway explained why they chose to attend “Nerd Prom,” considering the White House eschewed it completely last year. “We’re here on behalf of the president and in celebration of the First Amendment. And the president is in Michigan touting the very strong economy and the prosperity and security that his administration has brought to bear,” she told CNN.
Sanders noted that Trump even encouraged them to attend.
Of course, Wolf’s routine included jokes about a wide array of people, including Trump, Democrats, and the media. But it was the pointed japes directed at Sanders and Conway that made some question why the pair attended at all.
“Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway sit there as the potty mouth comedienne trashes their life… why didn’t they walk out?!” media mogul Matt Drudge tweeted.
The fact that they didn’t leave was praised and admired by others.
“I think @PressSec unflinching gaze at Michelle Wolf was the most interesting thing about the event, which is intended to honor the First Amendment but in fact mocked the values of civil society so thoroughly as to stun even the cynical reporters. The honest ones will admit it,” tweeted conservative commentator host Hugh Hewitt.
“That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive,” observed the New York Times’ White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.
Sanders did receive a salute before Wolf’s routine from WHCA president Margaret Talev, whose speech began the dinner. “Thank you for being here. Sarah, we really appreciate your anticipation and your ongoing work with our members to help us cover the white house and to help Americans see their government in action. Thank you,” the Bloomberg White House correspondent said.
Talev did, however, criticize Trump for is treatment of the media, which he often calls “fake news.”
“We reject efforts by anyone, especially our elected leaders, to paint journalism as un-American, to undermine trust between reporter and reader, or to cast doubt on the relevance of facts and truth in the modern age,” she said without mentioning Trump’s name.
White House Correspondents’ Association president Margaret Talev: “We reject efforts by anyone, especially our elected leaders, to paint journalism as un-American” pic.twitter.com/HX7XhNd1MW
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 29, 2018
Earlier in the evening, in Washington Township, Mich., Trump explained why he didn’t want to attend the “phony” correspondents’ dinner.
“I could be up there tonight, smiling like I love when they are hitting you, shot after shot,” Trump said. “These people hate your guts. Then I’m supposed to — and you know, you have got to smile. If you don’t smile they will say, ‘He was terrible. He couldn’t take it.’ If you do smile, they will say, ‘What was he smiling about?’ There’s no win.”
