Couldn’t call it unexpected, as Elvis Costello would say.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner took place Friday, July 24. Again. You may recall that the first attempt at the dinner, which Donald Trump was attending for the first time, took place in April. That came to a screeching halt when shots were fired near the hotel ballroom where it was held.
You might think that, given the circumstances, Trump wouldn’t follow through on his plans to give “the most inappropriate speech ever made,” as he said of what he had in store for the first event.
You would be wrong. And frankly, delusional. This is Trump we're talking about. The chance to talk trash to the faces of a captive audience of reporters was just too much to pass up. On that front, if no
other, he did not disappoint.
Who is Kaitlan Collins?
I’m not going to detail all of the insults. Why give them more attention? They are juvenile, downright stupid, and they weren’t limited to journalists. If you invite Trump to speak, you know what you are going to get. Yes, inviting the president to the dinner is tradition, but what has Trump done in his two terms if not shatter tradition? Why bother? He told you what he was going to do and he did it. Inviting this president to an event celebrating the First Amendment is like inviting a shark to swimming lessons. You know how it’s going to turn out.
The insults everyone is talking about involve CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a favorite Trump target, who won the White House Correspondents’ Association Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure. I will share some of what Trump said about her, just to provide an idea of the tenor of things.
“I want to personally congratulate CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on receiving her award,” Trump said. “It was all about me. It’s a fake. She shouldn’t get the award. It was a fake, but I didn’t mind. I said, ‘Kaitlan, congratulations.’ But it was fake. There’s no question about it.
“But she’s a young, attractive woman. She never smiles. I said, ‘Kaitlan, do you ever smile? Smile. You have a nice position. You’re at CNN — fake news. You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan. Just smile.’
“But we attack — and I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can. It was Dylan Mulvaney.”
Dylan Mulvaney offered the perfect response to Trump
Trump has an ugly history of insulting women reporters, Collins included. She seems to particularly annoy him — probably because, as she has noted, she asks him and his minions tough questions.
Mulvaney is a transgender woman, and an advocate and influencer whose inclusion in a Bud Light promotion led to a nasty backlash, fueled by MAGA outrage; the beer company eventually backed down. Of course, to Trump and his followers, there can be no greater insult than comparing Collins to a trans woman; it’s that kind of prejudice that fuels his base.
Trump kept the insults coming on social media
On Sunday, Trump posted a photo of Mulvaney from the Bud Light promotion with Collins’ face on her body. (You may have missed it; this was just one of Trump’s crazy posts Sunday.)
How do you respond to this? Mulvaney and Collins both took the high road. Granted, when Trump is the bar you’re trying to clear, that may sound like faint praise. It’s not.
Collins, who is scheduled to appear on “The Daily Show” on Monday, posted a series of photos on her Instagram account with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” I think Trump missed that memo.
Mulvaney posted a video on TikTok Sunday congratulating Collins on the award and said, among other things, “It seems to me that I might be like the one that got away for these men. Like, I am permanently burned into their retinas. I am microchipped into their minds.”
Apparently so. Mulvaney went on to say, “Maybe being publicly mocked and criticized by this administration is actually like the greatest compliment of all, because it puts me in the company of some of like the most brilliant, empathetic people in our world today.”
Also true. She ended by saying, “And lastly, to the president, thank you for reminding me that I am more powerful than I even knew.”
Trump's attempted roast proves who really has the power
She is exactly right. Maybe her speaking out will remind the journalists, including — especially — the journalists in the room with Trump on Friday night, that they have the power. Trump and his administration are doing all they can to take that power away.
Use that power. Remind your audiences of what is happening, and what is at stake. It is essential.
So what happens next year? Is there another dinner? Is Trump invited again? Unless he makes a 180-degree turn from the way he has acted his entire adult life in the public eye, it’s just going to be more of the same, if not worse. The argument that getting him on the record is one approach. But we have him on the record, again and again.
Yes, access journalism is valuable. But it has to be used judiciously, and you can’t cause more harm in getting the access than the good the story will provide. It’s a balance, and Trump has shown once again that he is more than willing to tip the scales in the wrong direction.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com.Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump insulting Kaitlan Collins is a show of power. For her | Opinion
