The Daily Show mocks CNN for fiddling at Washington's 'nerd prom' while Baltimore burned

Jon Stewart is not impressed with CNN&#039;s coverage of the White House reporters&#039; gala

(Image credit: The Daily Show)

published 28 April 2015

At the White House Correspondents' Association gala on Saturday night, "Barack Obama lit it up — crushed it — as did Cecily Strong," Jon Stewart said on Monday's Daily Show. "It was a fine 40 minutes of entertainment." And that was the last nice thing he said about Washington's annual "nerd prom." Because "while the A-list of America's media-political complex fiddled on this Saturday night," he said, Baltimore was burning.

And where was cable news? Covering not just the president's comedy routine, but the red carpet to get into the already self-referential and self-congratulatory White House Correspondents' dinner. CNN and MSNBC were aware of what was happening a relatively short distance away, they just didn't care. "To be clear," Stewart said after one clip, "a guy on CNN just said, 'Hey, if people are looking for news, I'm sure they can find it somewhere.'" Jessica Williams capped it all off with a Hunger Games homage that, well, seems kind of apt. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.