CNN commentator S.E. Cupp criticized the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night in Washington, D.C., arguing the annual event had been structured in a way that favored President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to headline the gathering of journalists, media executives and public officials.
“The Correspondents’ Association was trying to sort of mend some fences with a guy who wants us dead, figuratively. Figuratively, he wants journalism dead,” Cupp said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Cupp made the remarks about 20 minutes prior to the reported shooting during a panel discussion with CNN anchors John Berman and Laura Coates as the network previewed Trump’s arrival.
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner has historically celebrated press freedom while bringing together reporters and government officials, though Trump boycotted the event during his first term.
Cupp said she was disappointed by how the evening had been arranged and the decision to feature Trump as the central speaker.
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“I’m real bummed. Real bummed about tonight,” Cupp said.
She argued the dinner was meant to celebrate journalism but instead elevated officials who have clashed with the national press corps.
“Journalism is throwing a party. Journalism is celebrating journalism at this party,” Cupp said. “Journalism, for some reason, invited Brendan Carr, FCC chair, who is threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcast networks, Pete Hegseth, who removed journalists from the Pentagon, and Donald Trump, who attacks us on the regular.”
She also criticized the event’s schedule, noting that awards for journalists were slated for later in the program.
“They’re giving Donald Trump a speaking position to roast us to our faces for an hour,” Cupp said. “And he doesn’t have to stay for the part where we celebrate journalism and give out awards to journalists and talk about the importance of free speech.”
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CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, reporting from inside the ballroom, said demand for the event remained strong despite controversy surrounding Trump’s attendance.
“It’s a sold-out dinner and news outlets have still been trying to buy more tickets, but there’s no more room in the ballroom,” Stelter said.
Stelter also said some veteran journalists had opposed the decision to welcome Trump to the event.
“You have some veteran journalists on the outside telling journalists they should boycott this,” Stelter said.
Cupp said the circumstances benefited Trump politically and were created by the press itself.
“He could not have planned this scenario better. And guess what? He didn’t. We did,” Cupp said. “Journalism planned this scenario for Donald Trump.”
Trump administration officials attending the dinner included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect, Cole Allen, told law enforcement after his arrest Saturday night that he was targeting Trump administration officials, senior federal law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told Fox News.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN ahead of the dinner that Trump’s remarks would mix humor with criticism.
“This speech will be highly entertaining. It’s going to be a classic President Trump,” Leavitt said. “There will be some comedy throughout. There will be some jabs thrown.”
