No one wants to go to President Donald Trump’s big Friday night party, according to a new report.
The White House Correspondents Dinner is expected to have terrible turnout after a gunman stormed the last one and journalists report mounting weariness over Trump, Politico reported Friday.
“Nobody wants this,” one White House reporter told Politico, speaking under the condition of anonymity, “other than Donald Trump.”
Another White House reporter said they, too, would be skipping the much-hyped event.
“I would go if I were in town, but I don’t know – it’s just exhausting,” they told Politico.
Among the reasons behind journalists’ decision to skip the event is Trump’s frequent attacks on the media, which include his administration issuing subpoenas to reporters, threatening journalists with jail time, and filing lawsuits against news organizations.
One reporter described as a “prominent veteran journalist” told Politico that those attending Friday night’s event were “pretty unhappy about being there,” citing a growing “tension and unease” among reporters given Trump’s aggression toward media outlets.
Beyond Trump’s hostility with the press, reporters also told Politico that events like “vacations, weddings and family commitments” were of a higher priority than attending the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Politico that Trump’s speech at the dinner “will be entertaining,” promising it will be “unifying yet vicious, and serious yet hilarious.”
She also pushed back on the notion that reporters were skipping the event for any reason beyond scheduling conflicts.
“Leavitt said the speech changed little from the version Trump planned to give in April,” Politico’s report reads. “He’ll address the original dinner’s events, she said, with a mix of gravity and humor. The White House expects most of the Cabinet and senior staff to attend; Leavitt said anyone missing has a scheduling conflict rather than a lack of enthusiasm.”
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