I thought the object of the comedian’s jokes at these things is supposed to pretend to find them funny. Trump needs a memo on that. I set the video to start at the Trump parts, and it’s worth watching just to see how pissed Trump looks. Example:
Donald Trump said recently that he has a great relationship with the blacks, though, unless “the blacks” are a family of white people, I bet he’s mistaken.
kMc
Maybe The Donald has a good relationship with “Lewis Black”, but I doubt it.
Suicidal Zebra
Oh, I enjoyed that.
TheMightyTrowel
the Miss America pageant line was golden.
EconWatcher
Obama was amazing. Rather than talking about “11 dimensional chess,” I think it’s better to say that Obama views every moment as a teaching moment. And he’s a superb teacher.
Think about what he did in his little speech: First, he took some genuinely funny swipes at the clown show, including Trump. Then he segued into a short note of appreciation for the troops, who risk their lives for freedom. Then he used that as a springboard to say that journalists too, “at their best,” often risk their lives to get important stories that uncover the truth and hold leaders accountable, so they too are (can be) brave defenders of freedom.
Message gently but firmly delivered to the journalists present: Why are you covering the clown show? Why don’t you do what journalists do at their best, and get the real stories? When you think of journalists (like say Daniel Pearl) who died while digging for important truths, aren’t you ashamed to spend your time publishing the latest garbage from the mouth of Trump?
Yet he was subtle enough that it didn’t come across as hectoring. What a great man.
Cat Lady
That’s how it’s done, journamalist motherfuckers. Point and laugh.
rob!
Trump’s comically-stone-faced reaction to the jokes lobbed at him makes me think there’s more than a decent chance this is all a put-on: that he’s going to announce this was one big joke at the expense of the Republican Party.
I mean, Trump KNEW there was a camera on him, and he had to know by going there people were going to throw jokes at him. He can’t be THAT out of it, right? Anyone with a flair (read: all-consuming craving for) for promotion has to know that to sit there looking like a statue makes you look like an a-hole to the very people you’ll need to launch a presidential bid?
Or is he really that detached from reality?
Caz
Of course he’s not laughing. Seth hates Donald Trump and he’s throwing out all sorts of offensive insults and making fun of him, all disguised as roast-like jokes. If you and I were enemies, and I started telling jokes about you in public about you being a racist, a fatso, an idiot, a drug addict, etc., I’m sure you wouldn’t kick back and have a good laugh with everyone else at your expense.
I’m sure when Trump is at a party with people that are actually friends with him, he laughs along with everyone.
But it’s hard to laugh along when you’re in a room full of people that despise you and all they are doing is making fun of you.
How do I know they hate him? Because Seth is an actor (i.e. super liberal), and he’s at a White House correspondents dinner (i.e. politicians and media = super liberal).
I bet it would be really funny if Obama was at a Fox News correspondents dinner, and Trump was roasting Obama about how he’s a monkey and likes watermelon. “Ha ha ha, that’s so funny, why can’t he lighten up and laugh?”
Get it?
Ann B. Nonymous
@Caz: It must be nice to be drunk at 8:45 in the morning.
roshan
@Caz: Give this guy the moron-of-the-day award.
EconWatcher
Folks, friends do not let friends feed the troll. Just don’t do it, okay?
Scott
Shorter Caz: “Leave Trump alone! LEAVE TRUMP ALOOOOONE! (weeps)”
nancydarling
@Ann B. Nonymous: I hope caz has paper towels handy to wipe the spittle off his monitor (his chin probably needs it too).
nancydarling
@EconWatcher: ok, I’m done.
JPL
@Caz: Nope…I don’t get it. Trump deserved his bashing. What was said about Trump can’t be equated with monkey and watermelon.. Trump spent the last few weeks race baiting and calling our leaders stupid and foreign leaders motherf..ers.
Get it?
alwhite
@Caz:
you are an idiot.
Beside the obvious ignorance (“=super liberal” REALLY? not only obviously untrue but lame) did you even bother to watch the thing? Meyers had a few scathing remarks for the President: “You know who could beat you in 2012 Mr. President? The 2008 Barack Obama.” And Obama laughed right along with everyone else. Its what big boys do when they know they have been zinged.
And he did no jokes about Trumps weight or drug issues so you really didn’t watch it.
Kristine
@Caz:
Obama hears that stuff every day. We see that stuff posted, written, and broadcast about Obama Every. Damn. Day. It’s been going on since the day after the election. See Orange County Republicans/Fox News/daily news items/where have you been?
And again we see that if you are a Democrat, your First Rule is supposed to be Thou Shalt Not Strike Back.
JPL
@EconWatcher: Good point, but sometimes it is so easy.
Anya
@kMc: I thought he meant he has a good relationship with Conrad and Barbara Black.
Donut
@Caz:
You are coming off as just about the DUMBEST MOTHERFUCKER EVER. Fuck you.
Hal
People please, don’t start replying to caz, who I’m pretty sure is either a fake, or an occasional troll who wanders over from wing but daily, makes up some bullshit about super duper libraalls, and then vanishes while the thread fills up with a 100+ replies to his/her bs.
Sko Hayes
@Caz:
Aww, were the people mean to The Donald? The so-called Liberal press that’s been covering his every utterance for the last 3 weeks? The actor/comedian who was hired to make jokes at the expense of the audience?
You know what they say, if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
PurpleGirl
One of Trump’s images is of the grouchy boss who hells “You’re Fired!.” He usually frowns. I don’t think he liked being the butt of the jokes last night — he used to people fawning over him.
Aimai
Dont ignore caz, enjoy him! his tears make the whole thing sweeter. This is what it means to “drive your enemies before you and hear the lamentation of his women.” go caz go. Obama not only drank donalds milkshake he is sipping your tears like an after dinner drink.
Aimai
debit
@Aimai: Soooooo, Caz is Donald’s woman? Awesome!
General Stuck
Jeebus, just watched the clips on the complete and utter demolition of Donald Trump by Obama and especially Myers. Somebody ought to say some words after that political euthanasia. My guess is Trump’s head is wrapped in kevlar to keep it from esploding all over the place this morning. Merciless.
amk
@EconWatcher: Hear, hear. Well said.
Ana Gama
The Chump got what he deserved.
amk
@Caz: Is that you, donald ? What the fuck are you doing here ? Shouldn’t you be in your bathroom working off your rage ?
Karen
I already loved Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live and was in turmoil when I found out he was speaking at this dinner.
The jokes he made were on point, devestatingly so. He could have been fawning but he wasn’t.
Although since he’s on NBC and Trump is on NBC, I wonder if Seth Meyers will still have a job.
Some of the jokes were devestating, reminding me of when Colbert was at one of these dinners. Meyers was more gentle and less facetious. But no less acurate.
cathyx
Surely Trump expected to get some backlash attending this event. He couldn’t be that out of touch.
Aimai
Trumps fixed stare of outrage reminded me of a phase very young children go through when they are convinced that everyone knows when they are angry and will rush to placate them before they begin a tantrum. No doubt this is a chronic condition in millionaire brats. When Seth was speaking the look on donalds face was the special look that little kings wear when they hear something derogatory and their very stare is enough to bring nanny rushing to make it all better. But in reality there is no nanny big enough to shut this ridicule down. It is a true emperor has no clothes moment–if you add in that the emperor also discovers he’s not even an emperor but a fool.
cathyx
@Aimai: I think that it’s more that the emperor found out that people were just pretending that he was the emperor and never was a real one.
Konrad
Successful troll is successful, he even got in at comment 7.
Lojasmo
That was lovely. Trump is a humorless turd.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
@Aimai:
Now Trump was a poor little rich boy
Never had to cry
Whenever he complained of aches and pains
the doctors would stop by
Now he goes to parlors- the prettiest girls in town
get paid five hundred dollars, just to kick him when he’s down
Life is hard
Can’t buy happiness, no matter what you do
Can’t get to heaven on roller skates
Can’t take a taxi cab to Timbuktoo…
BOSS BITCH
Favorite jokes: Loved all of Seth’s Trump jokes, loved Obama’s digs on Matt Damon, and Paul Ryan’s budget. Actually that one was so true that all I could say was, “damn”. I love it anytime anyone goes after FOX News.
debbie
@Purplegirl:
Um, someone business-savy enough to declared bankruptcy four times?
debbie
Oops. Messed up:
@Purplegirl:
But who goes to this event not thinking he’ll be insulted — especially if he’s been making political news recently?
Um, someone business-savy enough to declared bankruptcy four times?
amk
That maroon even signed a copy of Obama’s BC for a woman.
http://foknewschannel.com/photo-of-the-day-for-may-1-2011/
dr. bloor
Well, Little Dickie Cohen knows a thing or two about what’s funny as well.
We’re talking about a man for whom the epitome of “class” is the opportunity to take a whiz in a urinal made of solid gold.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I thought the roasting of tRump the Chump went quite nicely. He was sliced and diced by Obama and then Seth came in, roasted his sorry hide and served him up for the masses to laugh their asses off at. tRump the Chump is used to making people squirm in discomfort and having them fawn all over him. Last night Obama and Seth demolished The Donald, turning him into The Joke. I bet tRump is going to do everything he can to get Seth fired from NBC.
Watching the shots of tRump at the WaPo table was pure joy for me. Watching that asshole glower as if people are supposed to be afraid of him was almost as funny as the jokes that were made at his expense. That shot at him about “the Blacks” was priceless. There’s nothing like feeding an asshole like him the shit that he spouts off while boasting about himself.
The only problem with last night and the jokes about tRump is that it had to come to an end.
Svensker
@Caz:
OK, now I KNOW you are DougJ. No real wingtard is that stupid with a straight face.
Gromit
@Karen:
Colbert won’t be invited back because he took the press to task for their failings. If he had only gotten under Bush’s skin I suspect there wouldn’t have been a problem. Meyers was funny, at moments bitingly so, but his targets were largely the objects of media coverage, not the media itself, except in the most superficial “NPR reporters walk like this, but Fox News reporters walk like this!” sort of way.
cathyx
So maybe the invite to Donald by the WaPost was a gift to the speakers at the dinner.
dogwood
The best thing about what the President and Meyers did is its double whammy effect. The roasting was an obvious win, but they were baiting him too. We’ll see what Trump says this week. He might be dropping the “n” word before this is over.
Linda Featheringill
@rob!:
I think it is possible that the man may be deteriorating and is sliding into senility.
It is quite possible to be rich and famous and still sink into dementia. It’s also easy enough to be a real asshole and develop senility. Happens all the time.
RoonieRoo
It sure seems like the invitation to Trump was so they would have a whack-a-mole target.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@RoonieRoo:
In Whack-A-Mole the player has to work to nail the mole.
This was more like Shake-N-Bake.
60th Street
Sipping coffee and smiling at the thought of Trump having his Carrie moment last night…
Chad N Freude
@Linda Featheringill: Not senility, rather the awesome unawareness of narcissism of the highest order. Trump has far surpassed the original. The term “Narcissism” should be changed to “Trumpissism”.
Starfish
@Karen: I think Seth is more important to the network than Donald Trump is. Seth is the head writer of SNL this season. The Apprentice is on permanent hiatus, but Celebrity Apprentice still gets decent ratings. However, do you think Tina Fey would give them a hard time if they tried to dump Seth? I think she would, and she is pretty important to the network.
Linda Featheringill
One thing we learned from last night’s fun and games was that Trump can’t let ridicule roll off of his back. We know how to get to him.
Maybe we can play a new game, called Trump Baiting. :-)
jinxtigr
That Carrie moment was delivered by Obama- when the President of the United States, accomplisher of a boatload of things including being the first black president ever, spoke of Trump’s many accomplishments- and the room laughed.
They laughed at Trump like he was a short-fingered vulgarian at the dinner party. That’s gonna leave a mark. Damn.
Richard Fox
I love watching humorless people when they get skewered. They can never laugh at themselves, and that puffed cheeked expression on Trump’s face was one for the ages. I look forward to hearing the inevitable hissy fit on his part. Lord what fools these mortals be…
Anya
I loved Jerry Seinfeld’s response to Trump’s tantrum (Trump attacked Seinfeld in a nasty letter that was published in the New York Post, after Seinfeld withdrew from a fundraiser for a Trump charity.)
Brachiator
@Caz:
The thing is that Trump and his little buddies at the Washington Post thought that he was going to be a big hit at the dinner, especially after he had been so brave and tough in front of fawning reporters who could not be bothered to challenge him on any of the crap he was spouting.
Trump is lucky that it was only Seth ripping him a new one. Someone like Jon Stewart would have been just as funny, but even more trenchant.
Anya
@Linda Featheringill: Seth Meyers is already baiting the vulgarian.
grumpy realist
It’s a times like this that I really, really miss Steve Gilliard. Considering the skewering he did of Giuliani’s presidential aspirations and the buzzsaw he forsaw Mr. “a noun, a verb, and 9-1-1” was walking into, I can just imagine what he would have done to Trump. (And of the birther shenanigans.)
Sigh. R.I.P., Stevie. Hope you’re getting a good view of the three-ring-circus called American Politics from whatever cloud you’re sitting on up there. We miss you.
Omnes Omnibus
@grumpy realist: I haven’t thought of him for quite a while. God, he was good.
Villago Delenda Est
@Anya:
That reminded me a lot of Letterman’s conversation with Al Gore in 1992, when he complained that while Clinton/Gore might be good for the country, it sucked for comedians, because they lost the seemingly endless natural resource of Dan Quayle.
MobiusKlein
@grumpy realist: Sorry, that view sounds like Hell.
brent
@Karen:
Although since he’s on NBC and Trump is on NBC, I wonder if Seth Meyers will still have a job.
I doubt this will be much of an issue because the success of Trump’s show, contrary to what Trump himself thinks, is not dependent upon anyone taking Trump seriously. Trump is a spectacle who lacks even a rudimentary self awareness. Nothing Meyers said effects the marketability of that particular trait one bit.
Tim in SF
This is off topic, but I would like to know how you embed the youtube video so that it starts playing at 12:00.
debit
Seth Meyers follows John Cole on Twitter.
scav
@EconWatcher: Oh yeah, I probably needed a cigarette more after the subtle skewering of the press in that room than after any other point. I’m pretty sure there’s a shot of a blond women woman nodding along with a suitably serious face (and a glittery glittery dress) and I’m wondering that, if she’s a journalist, is she even getting it? Ah well, I do so love the back and forth between the in your face and the stiletto in the ribs.
Emma
Grumpy Realist: Me too. His was one of the first political blogs I read and his stuff on New York politics was priceless.
Villago Delenda Est
@scav:
Which was why Colbert’s appearance at this thing a few years back was so good. He threw a few lines at Bush, but he saved the bulk of his ammo supply for the foul courtiers of the Village, who deserve every skewering they get. Colbert was so good that Richard Cohen bawled in his column about how unfunny it was…which of course ties right into the headline of this very thread.
Davis X. Machina
People forget how funny Obama can be…
He’s like the black Bob Newhart when he’s on.
patrick II
So, my guess is that people shouldn’t be quite so angry with the Washington Post for inviting Trump to the dinner. I would guess that if Trump hadn’t been invited already Obama asked someone at the Post to invite him. Obama would have had to re-write half his speech otherwise and miss a golden opportunity.
I also think that when people talk about what Obama’s greatest skills are they might consider adding trash talking to the list. His basketball days are paying off in politics. Obama sounds exactly like some guy in a basketball game telling his opponent to move on or get run over.
Joel
I didn’t think Meyers killed as much as others did, but the line mistermix highlighted was pinpoint accurate and deadly. It was a great line. The thing about it is, a truly great performance (Colbert) is littered with lines like those, and they come from all directions.
maya
On the plus side, I thought daNald’s comb-over looked coiffier than usual.
And, yes, the WaPo invite was a set-up. Now usually guys like him who are the firers set-up the firees this way. You’d think he would have caught a wiff of that before accepting the invite. Can we now call him The Duhnold?
soonergrunt
Here’s one way that this is bad for the donald–he has no sense of humor at the villagers’ favorite event. This is the event they like to point to and talk about how they can set politics aside and all be one big happy village.
He didn’t laugh, and worse, he didn’t laugh at himself. This will not be taken well. Look for more and more critical stories about him in the coming months because he just showed them in a way that they will internalize that he isn’t one of them.
They never believed Clinton was one of them, and look how they treated him. The difference here is that they now know that Trump himself thinks that he’s not one of them, and that he’s better than they are.
ed
That’s the stuff. (at 16:40)
Triassic Sands
This is pure speculation but I think there’s a pretty good chance Caz = Donald Trump.
Evidence? Only Caz defends Trump. I have never seen Caz and Trump appear together. And, most tellingly, Caz seems just as clueless, vulgar, and stupid as Trump. That’s something you can’t fake.
Ramalamadingdong
The side view of the Donald’s “hair” is truly awe inspiring. I’ve only seen him from the front, which is strange enough, but the spherical hard thing on top of his head.. Money can’t buy everything.
catperson
@rob!: He really has no idea what a clown he is. And despite occasionally being able to feign a sense of humor about himself, he’s incredibly thin-skinned. All the little handwritten petty notes he’s been sending to people who diss him shows that.
Origuy
@Tim in SF: Right click on the video in YouTube. There’s an option, “Copy video URL at the current time.” That’s on Windows with the latest Flash.
roshan
@Tim in SF:
To do it on an embedded video, use the “start” parameter. Note that start takes seconds as a parameter, not minutes and seconds. For example, to start an embedded video 31 minutes and 8 seconds into a video, 31*60+8 = 1868 seconds, so you would use this code:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/start-youtube-video-minutes-seconds/
Fred
Chump is dumb but not stupid. He had to know he would get hammered if he went there. Being the attention ho that he is I guess he couldn’t resist.
Person of Choler
Obama is indeed wise to be cracking jokes about Trump. Every minute he spends talking about Trump is a minute nobody will ask him about food prices, gas prices, budget deficits, national debt, the third war he wants to get us into, the tanking dollar, Guantanamo, unemployment….
Also, it helps his supporters to tune out these disconcerting topics and thus stay happy with his performance.
phoebes-in-santa fe
@grumpy realist: No kidding, grumpy. Steve was a whizz, not only at politics but at history, too. I loved the way he’d tie things together – events and people – in his well-written column. I really wish he’d at least seen Obama win in November, 2008.
Hell, I wish he was still here, now.
roshan
@Person of Choler: Blah, blah, blah. Your whiny tears sustain us.
Fred
You would think Chump would have brought a token black to sit with him.
Fred
@Person of Choler: LOL….pathetic attempt at trolling. Better go back to troll school.
Chris
@Caz:
What’re you trying to say, Caz? That such a thing would actually happen at a Fox News meeting? That your Fox buddies are something other than the party of abolitionism and tolerance?
I did like your summarization, though. At liberal events, they call conservatives racist. At conservative events, they are racist. Glad we got that cleared up.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
First, someone explain to me why the very idea of this event doesn’t make all of you want to projectile vomit.
Second, someone explain to me why Donald Trump is there.
Third, since we all understand that this event is a big joke and that is why Donald Trump is there, someone explain to me why the President thinks it’s a good idea to attend an event with a clown who has spent the last few weeks telling virulently racist jokes at the President’s expense.
Fourth, I understand other reality TV stars were there. Someone explain to me why the President and supposedly serious journalists think it’s a good idea to be in the same room with fourth rate TV hacks sharing laughs about how darn funny Trump’s virulent campaign of racism has been.
Fifth, if it’s all just in good fun and I should lighten up, why did Stephen Colbert piss them off?
Person of Choler
@roshan: Believe me, I’m not weeping. I’m enjoying a multitude of laughs at the ineptitude of this administration and the near-religious fervor of its supporters.
roshan
@Person of Choler: Keep whining, loser, it only makes us stronger.
jinxtigr
Seriously, it’s not funny because foxes are not that rigid. Ask any furry XD
As far as Obama’s comedy chops, I’m reminded of Bill Cosby, which is interesting because the thing about Cosby is, he was a very angry guy but controlled it with such incredible grace that you wouldn’t even know it. That’s a special gift of some of the great comedians- they can tap into incredible hurt and anger, but transform it into something else (some like Sam Kinison just tapped it, of course, and that was the gag)
If you’re the butt of the joke, you can be the angry one. If you’re the comic, you have to provide a translation, you blow a bubble that looks like something else, around the anger, and people laugh because it DOESN’T pop.
If you saw Baratunde’s video, think about how Obama has to feel, even though he is so capable that he can turn that energy against his enemies. There’s the anger, and in his routine he covers it in a faint, bubble-like film of- respect, and that’s the joke.
Because a guy like Obama respecting a creep like Trump IS a joke. On so many levels, Trump should be crawling just to be in the presence of Barack Hussein Obama, and instead the man tries to play boss. There’s something very satisfying to the moral sense, to watch Trump get more and more motionless and haughty as he’s taken apart.
If he was capable of shame it wouldn’t be as damn funny…
Lolis
@Shoemaker-Levy 9: @Shoemaker-Levy 9:
The president showed up because it is part of his job. The president has to do a lot of stupid things because they are what all the other presidents have done. Do you really think the president or First Lady wanted to be there?
The president did not invite Donald Trump. Do you think he should have backed out because Trump was invited?
Nobody here is saying the dinner is a good idea. We pretty consistently criticize the media.
Citizen_X
@Person of Choler: You’re right! Why, when Bush was at one of these things, he joked about the very thing that people were asking–where are the WMDs? Remember that? Now that was funny, funny, funny! Hell, I’ll bet Bush was killing ’em down at the VA hospital.
Yutsano
@Lolis: The dinner by now is a tradition. And it is tradition for the president to go to the
wankfestevent, so of course Obama goes. It sucks, but he still has to play nice-nice with these prima donnas or else they will extract petty vengeance upon him.Person of Choler
@roshan: Glad to be of help. You will need a certain amount of strength to keep your faith given the gap between Obama’s promises and his actual performance.
Polish the Guillotines
@Davis X. Machina:
Wow. Newhart’s exactly the guy I thought of too. It’s that dry-white-toast delivery that you only catch up to three jokes later.
Quiddity
Seth’s jokes about Trump were pretty good, but his delivery seemed a bit rushed.
Squarepeg
Shorter Trump: “OH yeah? Well, you’re just a big – DOODY HEAD! *runs and cries to Mommy* http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54037.html
Yutsano
@Squarepeg: Someone front page that, like naow. Even for Politico that’s hilarious. And something tells me that’s only the start of teh Donald’s backlash.
Cliff in NH
@Person of Choler:
Ever heard of a filibuster? Who did it for the last 2 years?
Wow you are dumb.
Bob Loblaw
@Person of Choler:
Pro tip: don’t use right wing talking points in your control trolling. Liberals don’t give a shit about strong dollar policy. It really goes and wrecks the illusion and undermines the performance. All we’re left with is some ham handed conservative dipshit making a fool of himself, again. So routine.
cckids
@Squarepeg: Wow, what a humorless, out-of-touch jackass. “His delivery was terrible, he’s a stutterer” . . . ? really? And, of course, to him, ALL of both speeches were completely about him & only him. As is typical, he only hears the lines with his name in them.
And we thought W. or Reagan were disconnected. Trump is more like Paris Hilton, or Jessica Simpson disconnected.
Yutsano
@Cliff in NH: Methinks someone is missing his sweet bumbling figurehead Dubya too much. Some folks just can’t handle a government that actually DOES stuff. Sigh.
celticdragonchick
@Person of Choler:
Funny how most of your list is occupied by things the POTUS doesn’t control anyway and are subject to those “invisble hand” free market forces that the GOP fellates on a daily basis…
Congress killed the closing of Gitmo, and the GOP has been busy trying to make sure that everything else is as fucked up as possible before the 2012 elections so that they can make his lack of dictatorial power in stopping them a talking point.
So that leaves our (pretty limited) involvement in Libya. I bet Romney will really run with that ball. Yep.
Redshift
@Squarepeg: Okay, after reading that, I agree that Caz is Donald Trump.
Emerald
@Davis X. Machina: Obama’s talent for comic timing and delivery equals JFK’s and FDR’s.
It is a devastating political skill.
Arclite
@EconWatcher:
This is a very astute observation, one that I missed as I watched it. I’m afraid that if I missed it, 99% of the journalists missed it too…
Brachiator
@Shoemaker-Levy 9:
That train left the station a long time ago. Much like the Royal Wedding, the White House Correspondents Dinner is all about the fact that the Beltway journalists are a part of the Permanent Establishment, and if proper deference is not shown by politicians, especially the president, then there will be hell to pay.
And Trump was there because he was invited by the Washington Post, which underscores again the sad reality that social standing, underwritten by money, well, trumps decency.
Arclite
@Karen:
If he is making money for NBC, he’ll have a job.
sistermoon
@Caz:
Wow. You’re in as much denial as The Donald.
Davis X. Machina
@Polish the Guillotines: He’s not only America’s first Black President, Obama’s also America’s first White Black President.
Johnny Coelacanth
I was trolling FreakRepugnant for teh Schadenfreude lulz, and the consensus there is that Obama was not funny, didn’t tell any self-deprecating jokes and Trump was brave to go into that lion’s den of commie liberals, or alternately, he was completely unprepared to be the butt of so many hateful, cruel jokes but either way, this was a Huge Win for Trump, mainly because shut up, that’s why.
aamom
@jinxtigr: this is the best analysis I’ve read all week. I was too caught up in being black and indignant..Thanks.
MattR
After the Comedy Central roast of Trump I was listening to an interview with Jeffrey Ross. IIRC, Trump’s reaction there was pretty much the same until Ross told him at commercial break that if it looks like Trump is enjoying it then the cameras will cut to him instead of to the audience. Obviously this had a huge effect on how Trump reacted for the rest of that roast.
Baron Jrod of Keeblershire
Video of Trump’s response.
Sure, Donny. Jobs were your main focus. But you’re still very very proud of getting Obama to make you look the the racist buffoon you are by releasing the birth certificate. Sure.
trollhattan
@Fred:
Exactly. Being mocked: bad; being ignored: worse.
Chet
@rob!:
I’d say it’s more a case of him knowing his audience. The type of people who would support a President Trump are not the type to suffer mockery of those deemed part of the tribe. To them, his stone-faced response is redolent of proper, righteous indignation, not a-holery.
Chet
^
^
^
Or, to use a Nixonland analogy, getting roasted by the Franklinian cool kids, and then getting visibly pissed off about it, was an excellent way for Trump to prove his Orthogonian bona fides to those who are attracted to that kind of thing.
MaryRC
@patrick II:
I’m not sure that’s true — the President’s and Meyers’ jokes about Trump would have worked whether Trump was there or not. I still think the Post needs to explain why they invited him.
Julia Grey
Easy…somebody told them (probably a week ago, when the gag writers were working on the draft script) that the president’s routine would include shots at Trump’s expense.
They couldn’t resist seeing Trump’s reaction in real time, and events proved just as newsworthy as they hoped.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
@Lolis:
The President just called a surprise news conference, providing documentation that nobody would dream of asking of a white politician, then sternly warning the White House press corps that “we don’t have time for this silliness.” Then he spends an entire evening INDULGING THIS SILLINESS.
By my standards, hell yes. By my standards this makes him look like a fool. I realize the DC crew has a different set of standards. If his staff couldn’t think up some BS excuse to not be there — he’s helping rebuild Tuscaloosa or something — all I can conclude is that indulging the silliness that we don’t have time for is his preferred way of spending an evening.
Baron Jrod of Keeblershire
@Shoemaker-Levy 9: You’re sooooooo right. Where are the articles of impeachment? How dare Obama take part in a tradition that goes back almost 100 years? We all know Americans hate traditions. No doubt all of America would see it like the ultra-wise Shoemaker does, and wouldn’t take Obama skipping this event as evidence of his aloofness. No, there’d be nobody who’d make hash of Obama shitting on an American tradition, and doesn’t he just think he’s too good for the American people, and blah de blah blah.
That’s because Americans are really smart.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
@Baron Jrod of Keeblershire:
3.5
Sorry, a comically moronic straw man is an automatic five point deduction. You also lost points for low degree of difficulty and poor artistic interpretation. Better luck next time.