This event is held to commemorate the success of American journalists that have kept the public informed about the current presidential administration, and to welcome new officers that are joining the program. The theme of the event was a celebration of the first amendment, and more specifically toward freedom of the press. Once Michelle Wolf took the podium, she steered the ship in a completely different and unprofessional direction. I feel that she did a terrible job and these are my thoughts on her routine.
The routine
Michelle Wolf is not a political comedian; however, her bits were very partial, gruesome, and inappropriate for the occasion.
ABC News shows that she began her routine by saying, “Like a pornstar says when she’s about to have sex with a Trump, let’s get this over with.” This was a blatant attack on our president when this is an occasion to commemorate those that create our news. She continues by saying, “I’m here to make jokes, I have no agenda.” Keep these sentiments in the back of your mind. “Of course, Trump isn’t here if you haven’t noticed and I know I know I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the President of the United States is the one p***y you’re not allowed to grab.” This was entirely inappropriate due to the nature of the event, and logistics aside, we did not elect Donald Trump to be our pastor, we elected him to be our president, and quite frankly, we should be focusing more on his political platform than what he does behind closed doors.
It is none of our business.
Later, she said, “I’m going to try to make fun of the president in a new way...Trump is so broke...how broke is he...he has to fly failed business class...Trump is racist though, he loves white nationalists.” This has turned the tides of the conversation flowing from a place of honoring the works of national journalism correspondents, and now it is an impromptu Trump roast without the man there to defend himself.
How unethical and unprofessional is this anti-agenda routine?
Abortion is not a joking matter
She continued her routine by saying, “[Mike Pence] thinks abortion is murder. Which first of all don’t knock it ‘til you try it. And when you do try it, really knock it. You know, you gotta get that baby out of there.” Michelle Wolf doesn’t have an agenda for this routine, yet she is pedaling a pro-abortion agenda, and using abortion as a platform for sarcastic jokes but, there is no room for joking when you are talking about abortion.
It was very difficult watching this routine, but it is important for people to know how unprofessional and inhumane this stand-up comedy routine was. She also joked about sexual assault after bringing up the #MeToo movement, which is also another serious matter that shouldn’t be made into a comedic stunt.
Later, she stated, “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.” This also went a step too far talking about the Starbucks debacle two weeks ago when two black men were met with unconscious racial bias infused in their coffee beans.
Wolf continues her routine to attack Republicans when she said, “Republicans are easy to make fun of. You know it’s like shooting fish in a Chris Christie.” Wolf made it clear to the audience that she did not have an agenda, but she is clearly making politically charged statements that deliberately attack and challenge more right-winged, conservative, and Republican attendees and viewers. Wolf also made a few remarks about Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying, “She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies.” And one of the final remarks that she made was, “What’s Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women?” These insensitive, not-so-witty remarks and plenty of others set the tone of her condescending comedy act and turn it from a comedic routine into a roll call attack.
The jokes that Wolf included in her routine were not funny at all and sparked a lot of conflict over social media this past weekend.
In summary
Michelle Wolf, near the end of her act, mentioned how she couldn’t make fun of Sean Hannity because of the fact that he wasn’t a journalist, but that didn’t stop her from shooting blanks at Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and the women of the Trump administration. This correspondent’s dinner was turned into a disastrous meal once Wolf took the stage and it was incredibly unsettling that she turned comedy into manifesting critical issues in a satirically inappropriate routine. This dinner was very unprofessional, and hopefully, the committee that hires performers for next year’s event know better than to hire such a bad comedian.