Fox host Howard Kurtz was all about denigrating the White House Correspondents’ dinner last night… except for the three Donald Trump supporters whom he called “the real stars” of the night.
Kurtz started his summary of the evening with a sarcastic dig: “I was at the self-important and self-indulgent gathering known as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last night,” he said.
Kurtz suggested that the most important information was comparing the number of celebrities attending:
KURTZ: I tried to find whether it still had the celebrity glitter in the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency.
Of course, the dinner is supposed to be about journalists and politicians putting aside partisanship for one night but in past years we were overrun by the likes of Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, Nicole Kidman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus – oh, and Donald Trump!
This year when it was less of a hot ticket, not so much.
Kurtz said he took his iPhone to the red carpet where there were, nonetheless, “a lot of big stars.” The first one he named was “Reince Priebus! The Republican National Chairman.” We saw a photo of Priebus as well as photos of actual celebrities such as Aretha Franklin, Adriana Lima, Bryan Cranston, Emma Watson, Jeff Goldblum and Michael Kelly.
Next came the laughable part: Kurtz pretended that three Trump supporters were the biggest stars.
KURTZ: But the real stars on a night like this - here we have on the right, Omarosa and then Scottie Nell Hughes, of the Tea Party Petwork. Big Trump supporters, and the two of them and Katrina Pierson, the Trump spokeswoman, interviewed by Jeff Zeleny there, of CNN. Now we know how you really shine at these things.
Sorry, but I doubt anyone (except, maybe Trump) would call these ladies the real stars of the night. But Kurtz has a history of acting like a PR agent for Trump.
Kurtz finally mentioned Obama. “For the president, it was a final chance to take some scripted jabs at the press and contemplate what life will be like when he leaves the White House,” Kurtz said. He played a few highlights from Obama’s remarks, including a clip from a taped comedy bit where Obama said, “[Bleeped] you, Chuck Todd.”
“That’s a joke you make when you're not coming back,” Kurtz sneered.
Kurtz also predictably complained about Larry Wilmore. “I thought he went over the line with some of his racially charged jokes and dropping the n-word at the end of his routine. That was really unnecessary and bothered a lot of people,” Kurtz said.
Kurtz made one last snarky dig before closing. “Next year, it’s someone else’s turn. Probably a fresh crop of celebrities for journalists to cajole to their nerd prom.”
There was no mention of Obama’s jokes about Trump. Maybe someone wants to stay in good standing for his next Trump interview.
Watch it above, from the May 1 MediaBuzz.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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