INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Journalists Call For A Boycott

By Christine Liwag Dixon
Published on: 15:46 PST, Feb 5, 2017

President Donald Trump has declared war on journalists and news outlets who dare to criticize his agenda. From declaring such media sources as “fake news,” to vitriol-filled Twitter rants, Trump isn’t holding back when it comes to lashing out against his opponents.

Trump’s heated condemnation of the press became notorious during his presidential campaign. News outlets, including The Daily Caller, reported several anti-media sentiments expressed by Trump.

“First of all, the media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile on is so amazing,” said Trump in a debate.

But that’s just the least of the insults Trump has hurled at the press. His Twitter page veers between angry rants against outlets he hates and dismissals of such sources as nothing more than “fake news.”

Trump has also called out Saturday Night Live on multiple occasions, in protest of unflattering sketches featuring President Trump as portrayed by Alec Baldwin.

Trump’s anti-media rampage has cued outrage from many journalists, who are urging people not to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The Washington Post reported that many members of the press are calling for a boycott of the annual event.

Iranian-American writer Reza Aslan wrote on Twitter, “I swear to God, any reporter or journalist who attends this should be boycotted.”

Robert Schlesinger wrote an editorial in the U.S. News and World Report, saying that journalists should not attend the dinner and, instead, “make other plans that night and if [Trump] does attend, let the ratings- and crowd-obsessed narcissist freak address an empty ballroom.”

Comedian Samantha Bee has announced that she is holding an anti White House Correspondents’ Dinner event called the “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”

Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, two magazines on President Trump’s hit list, have already canceled their annual parties associated with the White House Correspondents’ dinner.

Donald Trump has a long running feud with Vanity Fair and its editor, Graydon Carter, dating back to before his presidential campaign. The hostility escalated in December after Vanity Fair published a negative review of Trump Grill, located in New York City’s Trump Tower.

Trump’s dislike for Vanity Fair goes back to 2011 (at least on Twitter) while his hatred for Graydon Carter spans decades. According to the Inquisitr, Carter who used to run the satirical magazine Spy, “has been mocking Trump since 1986.”

Graydon Carter has attacked the business tycoon with an arsenal of insults for decades, including calling him a “short-fingered vulgarian.”

The New York Times reported that Carter wrote in an email, “We’ve taken a break from the dinner in the past.”

Carter added that, rather than attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he will instead spend the weekend fishing in Connecticut.

When asked why Vanity Fair would be canceling their White House Correspondents’ Dinner party this year, Carter simply responded, “Trump. And the fish.”

Also boycotting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is writer Beau Willimon, creator of the US version of the popular show House of Cards. Willimon cited Trump’s lack of respect for the press in a Twitter post.

President Trump’s opposition to the media has been so fierce that many people wondered if the White House Correspondents’ Dinner would even be held this year. Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association released an official statement stating that the annual dinner would go on as scheduled.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been an annual event since 1920, with proceeds from the tickets going to fund scholarships for journalism students. The dinner is traditionally attended by the president and vice president.

[Featured Image by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images]

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