When is the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? Which comedian will be hosting?
The White House Correspondents Dinner is back after two years, with Trevor Noah, serving as the night’s comedic guest.
After a two-year hiatus, the White House Correspondents Dinner is back. From the Washington Hilton, the journalists and other public figures will gather and hear speeches from President Biden and comedian Trevor Noah.
The event will take place on Saturday, 30 April, and will be the first dinner that the sitting President has attended since 2016. President Biden will be attending the event, but because of the risk caused by covid-19, he will skip the dinner portion. The President of the White House Correspondents Dinner, Steven Portnoy, took to Twitter to celebrate the President’s presence at the ceremony, noting the absence of the commander in chief in recent years.
Former President Donald Trump skipped the event each year of his precedency, describing the event as “negative” and “boring.” However, many have tied Trump’s hostility towards the dinner to his treatment at the event in 2011, when he was mocked by comedian Seth Meyers .
“Donald Trump has been saying he will run for President as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he was running as a joke,” said Meyers.
The comedian went on to make fun of the Apprentice star by doing an impression of what Donald Trump would sound like as President.
“‘Kim Jun Il is a loser – his latest rally was a flop. I feel bad for Ahmadinejad – the man wears a windbreaker, he has no class. I, on the other hand, sell my own line of ties. You can find them at Macy’s in the flammable section.”
Years later, Meyers talked about the event, saying that after Donald Trump had announced his candicy, they had run into each other after Trump hosted Saturday Night Live. Meyers asked the candidate to come on his show, but Trump refused until the comedian “go on air and publicly apologize for making fun of [him] at the dinner four years earlier.” He refused.
Who will be hosting this year?
Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show, will be hosting the event this year. This comes after he hosted the Grammy’s just last month.
When making the announcement, the White House Correspondents Association said that “Trevor is an incredible talent who keeps us laughing — and thinking — four nights a week.”
“We can’t wait for him to help bring our 100-year Washington tradition ‘Back to Abnormal,’” remarked Portnoy.
Past hosts include Stephen Colbert, Connon O’Brien, Jay Leno, and Wanda Sykes. In 2019, President Trump had said he would consider attending if a comedian was not selected as the perfomer. The White House Correspondents Association selected writer and history Ron Chernow, but the President skipped it anyway.
How can the event be viewed?
The event can be streamed on YouTube through the C-SPAN channel for those hoping to tune in.