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Donald Jr. Bashed The WHCD With A Joke That Sounds A Lot Like One Michelle Wolf Made
On Sunday, one of the president's sons responded to a series of withering roasts directed at his father the evening prior. However, Donald Trump Jr.'s White House Correspondents' Dinner joke sounded notably similar to one that host Michelle Wolf had already delivered — and both were directed at the same group of people.
"Hearing all the 'jokes' about @realDonaldTrump as a business man from last night’s #WHCorrespondentsDinner," Don Jr. tweeted Sunday evening. "Only problem is they forgot about his best deal ever... Living rent free for 2 years in the media’s heads."
Much of Wolf's comedic monologue at the WHCD did, in fact, center on Trump. And most of the evening's attendees were members of the media and the political establishment. However, the hosting comedian didn't just direct jabs at the president — she also roasted the media for its fixation on the president, much like Don Jr. did in his Sunday evening tweet.
"You guys are obsessed with Trump," Wolf said to the media members present at the dinner on Saturday. "Did you used to date him? Because you pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him."
She continued, eviscerating journalists for making money off of the Trump presidency:
I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn't sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you.
He's helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster, and now you're profiting off of him. And if you're gonna profit off of Trump, you should at least give him some money because he doesn't have any.
Wolf's monologue was an equal-opportunity roast for all groups involved, and on Sunday, she faced criticism from journalists and politicos alike. However, the business jokes that Don Jr. was referencing were part of a particular bit that Wolf kept up through much of her 20-minute routine.
Toward the beginning, she asked the audience to shout, "How broke is he?" every time she remarked that "Trump is so broke." She also mentioned, prior to beginning the bit, that she was intentionally performing it to get under the president's skin:
People call Trump names all the time. And, look, I could call Trump a racist, a misogynist or xenophobic or unstable or incompetent or impotent. But he's heard all of those, and he doesn't care. So, tonight, I'm going to try to make fun of the president in a new way — in a way that I think will really get him. Mr. President, I don't think you're very rich.
Don Jr., himself, was also featured as a punchline in one of Wolf's "Trump is so broke" riffs. After the audience responded with its inquiry into how broke Trump is, as directed, Wolf responded, "He looked for foreign oil in Don Jr.'s hair."
He wasn't the only member of the Trump family to express that he didn't appreciate Saturday evening's festivities. Trump also tweeted about the dinner, suggesting that the comedic monologue failed to entertain.
"While Washington, Michigan, was a big success, Washington, D.C., just didn’t work," Trump tweeted early Sunday morning. "Everyone is talking about the fact that the White House Correspondents Dinner was a very big, boring bust...the so-called comedian really 'bombed'”
In the past, the sitting president has attended the dinner, though Trump has declined to go to either WHCD that has taken place since he was inaugurated as president. Generally, a comedian or entertainer hosts, performs a monologue, and then the president delivers one of his own. However, that has thus changed under the Trump administration, and it's unclear how WHCD traditions will fare in the future.