Members of the press corps completely avoided the topic of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner during Tuesday’s press briefing.
The briefing was the first for White House press secretary Sarah Sanders since Saturday night’s comedic routine by Michelle Wolf, but Sanders was not awarded an opportunity to respond to the attacks on her looks and character.
During the dinner, Sanders was visibly uncomfortable as Wolf cracked mean-spirited jokes about her “smoky” eyeshadow, insinuated she acts like an angry softball coach and compared her to Aunt Lydia of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Journalists — including many on the left — condemned the display and urged the White House Correspondents Association and Wolf to apologize. (RELATED: Reporters Slam White House Correspondents’ Dinner As ‘Embarrassment’ And ‘Gift’ To Trump Admin)
Several journalists noted that the WHCD has drastically diverged from its original mission to celebrate the First Amendment and wondered if it is worth continuing the tradition. (RELATED: The Hill Won’t Return After WHCD So Vulgar That C-SPAN Had To Cut The Feed)
Even though the debate about the appropriateness of Wolf’s comments raged on throughout the weekend, Sanders has not yet responded to the spectacle on the record. Tuesday was an opportunity for journalists to get her reaction, but they may have been trying to avoid further embarrassment for Sanders and the media.
Instead of broaching the sensitive WHCD topic, journalists asked about the Iran deal, a “raid” on the office of Trump’s former doctor, the possibility of Trump sitting down with special counsel Robert Mueller and more.