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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhite House Correspondents' Dinner Ditches Comedian for 2019 Event
The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) has announced that historian and author Ron Chernow will be the featured speaker at the 2019 dinner. The moves breaks from years of tradition by not having a comedian keynote the annual gathering of reporters and White House officials.
"I'm delighted that Ron will share his lively, deeply researched perspectives on American politics and history at the 2019 White House Correspondents' Dinner," said WHCA president Olivier Knox in a statement on Monday. "As we celebrate the importance of a free and independent news media to the health of the republic, I look forward to hearing Ron place this unusual moment in the context of American history."
Chernow is known for his acclaimed biographies of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, J.P Morgan and John D. Rockefeller. He served as a historical consultant on Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton. His latest book, Grant, was published in 2017 and spent four months on the bestseller list and Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio are in discussions to adapt the biography for a Ulysses S. Grant biopic.
"The White House Correspondents' Association has asked me to make the case for the First Amendment and I am happy to oblige," Chernow said on Monday of hosting the event, which takes place April 27, 2019. "Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics. My major worry these days is that we Americans will forget who we are as a people and historians should serve as our chief custodians in preserving that rich storehouse of memory. While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won't be dry."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/white-house-correspondents-dinner-ditches-comedian-for-2019-event/ar-BBPSFcA
vlyons
(10,252 posts)But who knows? Maybe Ron Chernow will keynote something very important.
CincyDem
(6,333 posts)...because virtually any random choice of comedian is going to go after his because, that's what comedians do.
Chicken shit move to appease him.
spanone
(135,781 posts)trump can't take a joke, therefore no one gets to joke
Freethinker65
(9,998 posts)1/2 directly to Trump for softball interview access.
TeamPooka
(24,204 posts)Why even go when a group that is supposed to care about the first amendment and speaking truth to power when they are afraid to have a jester speak truth to power?
The WHCD is dead to me.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)An event for, by and about them, what could be better???
Fucking narcissists.
NotASurfer
(2,146 posts)Something ate his brain years ago and now it's only reflecting sarcasm and bitterness. He's just not funny any more
Turbineguy
(37,285 posts)There's nothing remotely funny about the trump administration.
At least Dubya could laugh at himself.
7wo7rees
(5,128 posts)"Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32 percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in reality. And reality has a well-known liberal bias ... Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, [...] because 32 percent means it's two-thirds empty. There's still some liquid in that glass, is my point. But I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash."
Trump would pull the mic stand down if he heard that.
Then again, maybe RON will roast DON with non-comedian intellectual swagger, and take away his oppressed, hurt feefees from being mocked by a fakenews/comedy man. This could be WAY better! Go Ron.
Volaris
(10,266 posts)Hopefully this historian has the balls to call everyone in the room out , including the press corps, and chart a way forward in covering this misadministration of fucking pirates for them.
I will relish a public shaming by the cardigan assassin.