I wrote last night about the Washington Post hosting Donald Trump as their guest at this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The responsibility for this decision belongs to the Publisher, Katharine Weymouth. The Trump invitation has stunned many folks at the Washington Post and some are speaking out. Ezra Klein tweeted that it was “embarrassing”, but it was Dana Milbank who went to town on Trump and the entire event. Here is a taste:
On Thursday, the Washington Post editorializes that Donald Trump has been campaigning on “bogus” issues and that he should “cease and desist.” An article in the news pages the same day reports that the great orange charlatan’s “simply wild speculation” has “almost no basis in fact.”
Then, on Saturday night, Post reporters and editors, in black-tie finest, go to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to host their invited guests, including. . . Donald Trump.
Awkward though the Trump invitation is, it is just one of the many problems with the annual dinner and its satellite events. [snip]
Along the way, journalists wind up serving as pimps: We recruit Hollywood stars to entertain the politicians, and we recruit powerful political figures to entertain the stars. Corporate bosses bring in advertisers to gawk at the display…
Milbank ends with a declaration to skip the event. Yes, Dana has said and done some pretty stupid things over the years, but he deserve some praise for this one.
If he keeps this up he’ll not get any more invitations to village parties. That could only be a good thing and getting “kicked out” of the club will serve to make Milbank a better reporter and columnist.
And now for an Open Thread…