President Donald Trump is not only skipping the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29, he’s having a party of his own by scheduling a rally in Pennsylvania the same night.
“Next Saturday night I will be holding a BIG rally in Pennsylvania. Look forward to it!” he tweeted on Saturday.
The White House Correspondents Association’s annual charity dinner, scheduled for April 29, is traditionally attended by the president, first lady, the White House press corps, media outlets and celebrities.
Money raised at the event goes toward scholarships for young journalists. Trump will be the first commander-in-chief to skip the event in over 30 years.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/855816071663812608
The POTUS announced he was skipping this year’s WHCD because its members “make stories up.”
“Over the years you make a mistake, I fully understand when they hit you, but when they make stories up, when they create sources, ’cause I believe that sometimes they don’t have sources, you know, the sources don’t exist,” Trump said in an interview with “Fox & Friends,” which came as he continued his verbal assault on the free press, calling news organizations like the Times, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS “fake news.”
Twitter had a field day with the news, with one tweet questioning if the POTUS’ planned rally was just “about basking in applause?”
@realDonaldTrump Why are you still holding rallies? You’re President, shouldn’t you focus on more important things – or is this about basking in applause? pic.twitter.com/c4dIMJa5Y8
— Cerian Jenkins (@CerianJenkins) April 22, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Another rally? Why, you’re already President? Are you that insecure & need folk cheering your every word? Silly question, of course you do.
— Mike P Williams (@Mike_P_Williams) April 22, 2017
@realDonaldTrump When things don’t go well Trump goes into his MAGA bubble, the 30% of Americans who actually like him. Put away the binky, expand the tent.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) April 22, 2017
Men who held rallies after they were democratically elected:
Mussolini
Hitler
Stalin
Castro
Berdymukhamedov
Kim Jong-un
Trump#TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/BDwEr9u2ux— Sophia Cannon (@SophiaCannon) February 18, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Back to campaigning and you haven’t had any legislative accomplishments? What are you gonna talk about, your golf game?
— Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) April 22, 2017
@realDonaldTrump You’re still here? The election is over, man. Go govern. pic.twitter.com/dXiANDHeEZ
— Adam Mordecai (@advodude) April 22, 2017
Despite the president’s absence, the WHCD will go on, with “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj emceeing the event at the Washington Hilton.