In defence of Michelle Wolf
AT THE END of the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday evening, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, refused to pose for a photo with comedian Michelle Wolf. It was a sign of things to come.
On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted that the White House Correspondents Dinner is DEAD as we know it. Oliver Knox, the incoming president of the White House Correspondents Dinner Association, said in an interview that future events may have to be different. No entertainer, he said. No comic. A serious speaker. Maybe dont televise it.
The reason was Michelle Wolfs speech. Wolf, who honed her craft on Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Daily Show and Nice Lady, was merciless. In a 20-minute set, she mocked the media, President Trump and the administration. Her jokes were met with awkward laughter, gasps and silence. She was unsparing. And that was exactly the point. Wolf was hired to roast the politicians and pundits attending the dinner, not entertain them. She was supposed to be outrageous.
The response was baffling. Despite a trade war looming, and tens of millions still living in poverty throughout the U.S., a comics provocative speech was headline news on Sunday. Serious journalists like Mika Brzezinski called a joke about Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a consistent defender of Trumps lies, deplorable. I have experienced insults about my appearance from the president, Brzezinski tweeted. All women have a duty to unite when these attacks happen and the WHCA owes Sarah an apology. The joke? I think [Sanders] is very resourceful. Like, she burns facts, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smokey eye.
When Ricky Gervais was criticised for his speech at the Golden Globes in 2016, he pointed out that those who were so offended were some of the richest, most beautiful and luckiest people on the planet. Politics aside, Michelle Wolf, who has correctly refused to apologise, could say that her targets are some of the most powerful people on the planet. Cant they take a joke? But that isnt the point. Wolf did her job. More than that: Wolfs sharp observations on the state of the media, politics and life in America today are worthy of consideration. It might have been a hatchet job, but it was a hatchet job with a moral and political foundation. This was no cheap shock humour. And its worrying that the criticism comes just after the release of the World Press Freedom Index, which showed the US has dropped two places. If free speech is in danger across the board, surely journalists should be loudly supporting free expression every chance they get?
Anyone who cares about free speech or comedy should be getting behind Michelle Wolf and her hilarious speech. But she can handle herself. When Sean Spicer called the White House Correspondents Dinner a disgrace, Wolf replied, Thank you!. The tweet earned more than 100,000 likes. And in response to a tweet from Maggie Haberman of the New York Times, praising Sanders for the impressive way she absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, Wolf wrote, Hey mags! All these jokes were about her despicable behaviour. Sounds like you have some thoughts about her looks though? She added a blowing-a-kiss emoji. As many hecklers have found out, dont try to argue with a comedian.
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