Speed Reads

WHCD 2018

Michelle Wolf draws laughs and outrage at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

The host of the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) was Daily Show correspondent and comedian Michelle Wolf, who turned in a biting performance that sparked laughs and outrage alike.

While President Trump did not attend the dinner (and panned it on Twitter Sunday), opting instead to hold a campaign-style rally in Michigan, some members of his administration did go. Wolf did not soften her jabs at those present:

  • "I did have a lot of jokes about Cabinet members. But I had to scrap all of those because everyone has been fired. You guys are going through Cabinet members quicker than Starbucks throws out black people."
  • "Mike Pence is what happens when Anderson Cooper isn't gay."
  • "Every time Sarah [Huckabee Sanders] steps up to the podium, I get excited, because I'm not really sure what we're going to get. You know, a press briefing, a bunch of lies, or divided into softball teams."
  • "Democrats are harder to make fun of because you guys don't do anything. People think you might flip the House and Senate this November, but you guys always find a way to mess it up. You're somehow going to lose by 12 points to a guy named Jeff Pedophile Nazi Doctor." [Michelle Wolf, via The Washington Post]

She particularly targeted White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whom Wolf said "burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye." Her comments about Sanders drew critique from New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman:

Watch Wolf's full speech here.