White House Correspondents' Association abruptly cancels anti-Trump comedian headliner for annual dinner
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) revealed on Saturday that it canceled its comedian headliner Amber Ruffin ahead of its annual dinner next month.
In a memo sent out to colleagues, WHCA president Eugene Daniels wrote that the board unanimously decided to drop a comedic performance for the dinner as part of a "re-envisioning" of the tradition.
"At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists," Daniels wrote.
The decision came one day after White House deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel Taylor Budowich criticized the WHCA for recruiting Ruffin.
"This year’s @whca dinner will be hosted by a 2nd rate comedian who is previewing the event by calling this administration ‘murderers’ who want to ‘feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, because you’re not.’ What kind of responsible, sensible journalist would attend something like this? More importantly, what kind of company would sponsor such as hate-filled and violence-inspiring event?" Budowich wrote on X.
Budowich also mocked the decision to pull Ruffin.
"No accountability at @WHCA, just a cop-out statement—pathetic! Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral decision to recruit and sign this garbage, hate-filled comedian. Yet, they are all turning a blind eye to it publicly. It’s an indictment on how broken and useless this organization has become… so sad that such a storied and consequential group has been so quickly driven into irrelevancy. Oh well. Good riddance!" Budowich wrote.
Although Daniels wrote that he had been planning this change over the last couple of weeks, Ruffin has been promoting her gig as recently as Thursday.
"I have my Google Docs open at all times for throwing jokes in there and little thoughts I’m having, but I can’t help but to be like…we’re a little ways out, right?" Ruffin said on The Daily Beast Podcast. "News is happening at such a freaking clip that how are we supposed to hit that moving target? Also, how could you forget any of this stuff happened, you know what I mean?"
Fox News Digital reached out to WHCA and Ruffin for comment.
WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS ALREADY 'EXHAUSTED' BY SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
President Donald Trump has not yet indicated whether he will attend the dinner on April 26. Throughout his entire first term, he didn't attend the event,
However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced earlier this month that she would not attend the dinner.
In February, Ruffin claimed "no one" wants to see Trump at the dinner but added that he "should."