President Trump Calls for the White House Correspondents Dinner to be Put to Rest
President Donald Trump has heaped more criticism on comedian Michelle Wolf for her divisive performance at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, calling her "filthy" and suggesting the annual event be canceled. "The White House Correspondents' Dinner was a failure last year, but this year was an embarrassment to everyone associated with it," the President tweeted on Sunday night. "The filthy comedian' totally bombed couldn't even deliver her lines-much like the Seth Meyers weak performance. Put Dinner to rest, or start over!" Trump made a reference to late-night host Seth Meyer's 2011 performance at the dinner, in which the comedian roasted Trump. In her scathing, 20-minute address, Wolf ripped into the Trump administration and took particular aim at White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She also threw barbs at Ivanka Trump, "as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons," and Kellyanne Conway, "the perfect last name for what she does.", , Trump tweeted about the dinner again Monday morning, calling it "a total disaster and an embarrassment to our great Country and all that it stands for" sic. , The caustic routine earned criticism from many attendees and viewers, including journalists and lawmakers. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the event "disgusting.", In an earlier tweet, Trump called the evening, "a very big, boring bust.", Wolf was praised for her performance by fellow comedians and writers, including The Big Sicks Kumail Nanjiani and The New Yorker's Emily Nassbaum. But the White House Correspondents' Association lamented the entertainer's monologue. "Last night's program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people," association president Margaret Talev said in a statement on Sunday. "Unfortunately, the entertainer's monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.", , Trump has sat out both dinners held while he has been in office, a break from precedent. Since its founding in 1921, the joke-filled dinner has hosted every president at least once. "I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington swampwith a much, much larger crowd," Trump said at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during last year's dinner, according to the Washington Post. At the time, he said he might make 2018's dinner "more exciting" by showing up. But he again skipped out in favor of another campaign-style rally, this time in Michigan, which he called "a big success."