After President Donald Trump announced that he would not be attending the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, mockery and trolling quickly followed. Within minutes of Trump's announcement, actor Alec Baldwin was being recruited to fill the role.
Baldwin replacement
The annual dinner is one of the most anticipated events of the year. In a world of partisan drama, the correspondents' dinner is a time when liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, and the media can have dinner and a few drinks, while laughing over jokes. In recent years, former President Barack Obama had been well-received for his stand-up work, where even conservative commentators praised his humor.
Since the election, many wondered if Donald Trump would attend the 2017 version of the dinner considering his feud with the mainstream news media has deteriorated more and more with each passing day. After Trump took to Twitter to announce that he was not going to be in attendance at the event, social media quickly lashed out, including the recruitment of Alec Baldwin, as reported by The Hill on February 25.
Zach Braff suggests Alec Baldwin fill in for trump at WH Correspondents' dinner https://t.co/5aYqbmEe4W pic.twitter.com/0lsho1D3VK
— The Hill (@thehill) February 25, 2017
"Alec Baldwin time to suit up," actor Zach Braff wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday night. CNN contributor Brian Stelter took to his Twitter account to relay an email, tweeting, "Email from a viewer: 'PLEASE, please, have Alec Baldwin invited to the White House Correspondents dinner since Trump is not going.'" Author Brian Klass also doubled down on Baldwin taking on the role of the president, tweeting, "Yuge opening for Alec Baldwin to get some extra work that evening."
.@AlecBaldwin time to suit up. https://t.co/DfVnzAYxSG
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) February 25, 2017
Yuge opening for Alec Baldwin to get some extra work that evening... https://t.co/cQoERmmLf6
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) February 25, 2017
While many advocated for Alec Baldwin to play the part of Donald Trump, others had another idea.
"No Trump at #WHCD? May I suggest @Lesdoggg take his place at the White House Correspondents Dinner? Steve Marmel tweeted.
No Trump at #WHCD?
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) February 25, 2017
May I suggest @Lesdoggg take his place at the White House Correspondents dinner? pic.twitter.com/xTDuJn0wvg
Moving forward
Donald Trump's decision not to take part in the annual dinner doesn't come as a surprise, as he's shown a growing hostility towards the media and the press.
While the billionaire real estate mogul has only been in office for a month, his actions have resulted in backlash in the form of protests and demonstrations on an almost daily basis, which don't look to be slowing down anytime soon.
