On February 25, 2017 President Donald Trump announced on his Twitter he will not be attending the White House Correspondent Dinner. The President gave no explanation as to why, but the tweet came after the restriction of some media outlets from attending a press gaggle held the day before.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!" Trump tweeted.
Trump will be the first president in 36 years to miss the event. The last president to skip the event was Ronald Reagan in 1981, but did so as he was recovering from being shot from a failed assassination.
The White House Correspondent's Association Dinner is scheduled to take place April 29. The proceeds of the event go towards scholarships and awards to aspiring students and upcoming journalists in the country through an event celebrating the First Amendment. However, with the accusations Trump has made towards the media calling them “fake news” and journalists being called the “most dishonest people on earth,” journalists speculate Trump’s absence is a continuation of his battle of accusations against news media.
Trump’s administration have also shown the President their support in these false claims towards the media, from White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, White House press secretary and White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
During an interview last month, Bannon stated “the media’s the opposition party.” Making other remarks in which degraded the work of journalists and exaggerating the harm the news outlets are causing to the country. In defense of Spicer’s press meeting about the attendance of Trump’s inaugural and the media outlets for not investigating into Trump’s claims of voter fraud, Bannon had strong words to say towards the media.
“The media has zero integrity, zero intelligence and zero hard work,” said Bannon.
In a press gaggle held on Friday, February 24 by Spicer, news outlets such as Buzzfeed, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, the Hill and Politico were not allowed. The limited access from these news outlets raised suspicion at the gaggle, while the news outlets who were allowed questioned Spicer for their absence. Spicer replied by stating because it was a gaggle, the administration did not feel it necessary to expand the pool of reporters. Spicer said those in attendance were welcome to share the information to those who were not.
Trump has consistently been tweeting negatively towards numerous publications almost everyday and does not seem to be stopping anytime soon, along with those in the White House.
