Incoming White House Correspondents’ Association president Olivier Knox said he doesn’t anticipate there being any immediate action from the group following growing backlash over the association’s annual dinner last weekend.
Knox, a White House reporter for SiriusXM, said there will be a town hall-style meeting for the association’s members ahead of board elections in July.
“I certainly heard a lot of ideas, gotten a lot of feedback [from members] but in terms of immediate reaction, I don’t see any apart from this likely town hall meeting,” he told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
The WHCA drew criticism after it hosted its annual dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, where the group hosted comedian Michelle Wolf, who some said performed a tasteless set of material that touched on abortion and targeted White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in personal terms.
Margaret Talev, the association’s current president, said after the event that Wolf’s performance was not in the “spirit” of the night, which is intended to celebrate the First Amendment and press freedom.
The publisher for the Washington-based publication The Hill announced Tuesday that his news organization was unlikely to attend next year’s event. USA Today’s publisher also wrote a public letter to Talev , saying that the dinner was not fulfilling its purpose.
The association advocates for greater media access to the White House and also facilitates the rotating “pool” of reporters that covers the president, which helps news outlets cut down on production costs.
