At the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday evening, liberal elitist comedian Michelle Wolf attempted to “roast” the Trump administration, particularly taking aim at the women President Trump employs. Though at previous WHCDs comedians, politicians, and members of the media enjoyed poking fun at the party in power, this particular demonstration showcased a new level of crude and crass jokes that were more ad hominem than they were amusing. If anything, the WHCD showed the height of hypocrisy of the modern feminist movement, which stands by women if they are liberal or progressive but takes fierce aim at women, often personally, if they embrace conservative ideas.
The annual black-tie dinner has a bit of a storied history. Since 1924, every sitting president has attended at least one year. As the years have progressed, the dinner has gone from a fun, light-hearted night out for media, politicians, and Hollywood, to what New York Times writer Soban Deb called “a way for the Washington complex of journalists and power brokers to coat themselves with gaudiness and glamour by mingling for a night with Hollywood celebrities.” This year’s event was no less crude, stupid, and frankly, inane.
With the platform to herself, Wolf joked about Trump, Hillary Clinton, Russia, and Vice President Mike Pence. Wolf claimed she had no agenda, but it shone through when she skewered the women of the Trump administration for everything from their relationships and politics, to their personality and appearance. Here’s a sampling of her comments about Press Secretary Sarah Sanders:
I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. 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, you know? Is it Sarah Sanders, is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is it Cousin Huckabee, is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? What’s Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh, I know. Aunt Coulter.
If you’re not laughing yet, there’s more time. Here’s what Wolf said about Kellyanne Conway, the president’s counselor:
Wolf even jabbed Ivanka Trump, saying she has “done nothing to satisfy women, so I guess like father like daughter.”
Pretty funny right? Nah?
Rather than explain her humor or, God forbid, apologize, Wolf doubled down on Twitter Sunday:
Hey mags! All these jokes were about her despicable behavior. Sounds like you have some thoughts about her looks though? ? https://t.co/JRzzvhBuey
— Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) April 29, 2018
Why are you guys making this about Sarah’s looks? I said she burns facts and uses the ash to create a *perfect* smoky eye. I complimented her eye makeup and her ingenuity of materials. https://t.co/slII9TYdYx
— Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) April 29, 2018
Liberals and conservatives alike weren’t happy with Wolf:
michelle wolf reminds us that denigrators of women, are often women who use politics as an excuse for physical ridicule. the media calls that a “roast.” if it were a conservative doing so, it would be called misogyny.
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) April 29, 2018
For some perspective about the concept of “roasting” which often does include tearing down a person’s physical appearance, editorial writer at the Dallas Morning News Jay Caruso offered this clip of Don Rickles tearing apart Frank Sinatra and even Orson Welles. The key to a roast isn’t to avoid people because of ideology or even steer away from slamming a person’s looks, but to do it to everyone equally and in a manner that’s actually funny.
For the people who think whats-her-name was funny, watch Don Rickles for 5 minutes. This is how one does a roast where nobody is spared and it’s hilarious. https://t.co/3ZI5eFY4XR
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) April 29, 2018
Still, this didn’t matter to many in the mainstream media, who lauded Wolf’s choice of humor. Yahoo’s Ken Tucker called her jokes “shockingly good,” and CNN published an opinion piece by radio host Dean Obeidallah labeling Wolf the “big winner” of the WHCD, “not Trump.”
Conservatives often point out that liberals seem thin-skinned, like dainty puffs of wind who can’t handle criticism or negativity, a la snowflakes. To be clear, slamming Wolf’s monologue isn’t a ploy for pity or a cry for help. The problem with the WHCD and her speech wasn’t that she made fun of Conway, Trump, and Sanders, it’s that she’s a woman who purposefully skewered women, simply for their ideology – and she wasn’t even funny doing it.
If you’re going to be a hypocrite and break the tenets of feminism, squashing the idea that women should support women, or that women should support an administration that’s hired so many women like Trump has–which is what modern feminists have been touting all along – the least you can do is take a few tips from Don Rickles and garner a few good laughs.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota. She was the 2010 recipient of the American Spectator’s Young Journalist Award.
