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.