Michelle Wolf went from being an obscure comedian to a national headline overnight. Despite listing “The Daily Show,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” and her HBO special on her IMDB page, her appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was obviously her biggest gig yet.
If you weren’t familiar with Wolf before this year’s WHCD, then you might have been mortified by her monologue, particularly the vulgar humor. But in reality, it was par for the course based on her history of standup. The tiny nuggets of genuinely funny jokes were clearly overshadowed by the provocative ones that ranged from distasteful to absolutely shameful.
Her slams against President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were rather typical, and after two years of anti-Trump animus from Hollywood, we’ve become numb to the hateful rhetoric. But it was what she said about the women of the Trump administration, particularly about White House Counsel Kellyanne Conway and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, that were so vicious it felt like a punch to the gut.
It Was Really Bad
Wolf mocked Conway’s last name, insisting it was “perfect” because she was some sort of a “con” since she constantly “lies.” After demanding the media stop having Conway on their networks, she laughed about leaving her stuck under a tree somewhere—but clarified that she didn’t want her to die, just “stuck” under a tree. She then blasted first daughter and top Trump adviser Ivanka Trump because she was supposed to be an “advocate for women” but ended up being as helpful to women as an “empty box of tampons.”
Wolf saved her most brutal remarks for Sanders, a guest of honor at the dinner as a representative of the Trump administration who sat on the stage within a few feet from the podium. Wolf began by making an unflattering comparison to a character from the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She then claimed Sanders “burns facts” and uses the ashes for a “perfect smoky eye,” which has gotten so much attention from critics for mocking Sanders’ appearance even though Wolf later insisted she wasn’t.
Frankly, the most appalling attack she made against Sanders that the media has virtually ignored was when she essentially called her the “Uncle Tom” of white women. Of course, we also can’t forget her immoral and abhorrent “jokes” about abortion that are so disgusting, they’re not worthy to describe.
It’s no surprise that conservatives and Trump supporters were enraged by Wolf’s monologue, but what was surprising was all the pushback the monologue has received from the mainstream media. Reporters at The New York Times, The Associated Press, Politico, ABC News, and folks at CNN and MSNBC all condemned what was said at the WHCD. And there’s been a chorus of her critics that are demanding she apologize, specifically to Sanders.
The People Who Hired Her Wanted This
But as awful as the things Wolf said in her monologue are, she shouldn’t apologize. Wolf was hired to do a job and she did it. While anyone with decency was turned off by her performance, her fans absolutely loved it, which isn’t surprising because her target audience hates everything about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
Despite the overwhelmingly negative coverage Wolf has been getting, she ultimately benefits from the exposure since she was previously a no-name comedian and now she’s using the notoriety to promote her new show on Netflix. So the more we talk about her, the more it helps her.
However, what isn’t being talked about enough is how the White House Correspondents’ Association should take responsibility for Wolf’s monologue, not Wolf herself. They knew exactly what they were getting when they chose her to host the WHCD. All you have to do is search online for “Michelle Wolf” and you won’t go beyond 30 seconds without finding a joke about vaginas.
Amid growing condemnation of the event, the WHCA released a statement, which in part read: “Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people. Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”
What a load of crap. For starters, when was the last time the WHCD “unified” the country, the Bush administration? The last several of these events were nothing but divisive. Also, the WHCA absolutely threw Wolf under the bus by saying her monologue was not in the “spirit” of their mission. They hired her! They can’t all of a sudden pretend Wolf was some random woman who wandered onto that stage.
The WHCA gave her the gig knowing how vulgar and anti-Trump she is. WHCA President Margaret Talev said she was “delighted” to announce this year’s host back in February, adding that the dinner “honors the First Amendment and strong, independent journalism” and that Wolf’s “embrace of these values and her truth-to-power style make her a great friend to the WHCA.” What a great “friend” Talev is.
The WHCA has some soul-searching to do, because an event that was supposed to highlight some of the best journalism has to offer was completely overshadowed by Wolf’s monologue. Perhaps they should do away with having these mean-spirited, leftwing comedians host the event, since they’re incapable of restraining their hostility towards the Trump administration.
In the end, the media that’s so desperate to earn the trust of the American people handed the president a huge victory by portraying themselves as the out-of-touch journalists that they are. If we truly want to defend the First Amendment, then we shouldn’t be demanding Wolf apologize. Despite how you feel about this comedian, all she did was her job, no matter how ugly it was.
Any anger or resentment you may have should be directed at the WHCA, because they’re the ones that have tainted this annual dinner over the years. They should take full responsibility.
