Michelle Wolf’s roasting of White House press secretary Sarah Sanders at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was criticized by many, but at least two liberal celebrities came to her defense.
“Dear ‘the media’ – Michelle Wolf was FUNNY,” tweeted late night host Jimmy Kimmel. “Hire a juggler next year.”
Dear “the media” – @michelleisawolf was FUNNY. Hire a juggler next year.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) April 29, 2018
Comedian Kathy Griffin, not unaccustomed to cruel jokes at the expense of conservatives, shot out a series of tweets on Sunday defending Wolf and the role of “great comedians” in general. Griffin was criticized last year for a tweet of herself holding a replica of President Trump’s severed head.
“A comic’s job is to go over the line and then push the line and go over it again,” Griffin tweeted. “Great comics aren’t supposed to be safe or careful. That would mean we’re not doing our job. By pushing the line we force people to think differently, to ask questions, and disrupt the status quo.”
The tweet was part of a long series from Griffin:
A) Ok I have some thoughts on @michelleisawolf‘s act and the reaction to it from members of the press and other DC insiders. For the record, I was in the room last night. @michelleisawolf‘s set was great. She was hilarious and confident.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
B) First, @michelleisawolf took no prisoners last night. She roasted Trump, Pence, White House staffers, the media, media personalities. Everyone is focused on Sanders but that was only 1 1/2 minutes of Michelle’s act. She went after everyone…as it should be.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
C) @michelleisawolf was hired to do a roast. That was her job. She wasn’t hired to offer media analysis or be fair and balanced. She was hired to poke fun at powerful people. Not once did she punch down. She focused on the people/institutions that are powerful beyond measure
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
D) A comic’s job is to go over the line and then push the line and go over it again. Great comics aren’t supposed to be safe or careful. That would mean we’re not doing our job. By pushing the line we force people to think differently, to ask questions, and disrupt the status quo
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
Griffin then proceeded to defend Wolf’s treatment of Sanders because the press secretary was “Trump’s proxy.”
H) Trump chooses not to attend the #WHCD – instead the White House said Sarah Sanders was attending in his place. She sat on the dais where the President usually sits. So of course she was going to get some of the toughest jokes, she was Trump’s proxy.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
I) The calls for the @whca and @michelleisawolf to apologize are absurd. They’re coming from reporters and many Trumpers. Trump has famously (and he says this himself) never truly apologized because he thinks it makes him look weak.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
She then launched into her own theory on why the media is “so upset.”
M) I’ll tell you what has the media so upset, because @michelleisawolf told the truth about them last night and the role they played in allowing Trump’s rise. They hate to be called out on their bullshit, it’s painful..I get it. But she said what needed to be said.
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018
N) So journalists are willing to demand that a comic hired to roast people apologize but they aren’t willing to demand that Trump or his staff apologize to people? Is that where we’re at now? Can someone explain the difference to me?
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 29, 2018