Some say that Washington, D.C. is like Hollywood for ugly people. If so, then Washington was somewhat glamorized last night, as stars of film and television attended the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner featuring President Barack Obama. These stars of the big and small screen included Sean Penn, Salma Hayek, Bradley Cooper, Mila Kunis, John Hamm of "Mad Men", Rosario Dawson, and others. The Hollywood presence added some California cachet to the so-called "Nerd Prom" of Washington luminaries, such as President Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, media figures such as Wolf Blitzer of CNN and Chris Matthews of MSNBC, cabinet officials and members of Congress.
One attendee who bridged at least two of these worlds was Donald Trump, who is both a television personality with his reality show “Celebrity Apprentice”, and a potential 2012 Republican Presidential candidate. Perhaps because of Trump’s high profile, in addition to Trump’s recent attacks on President Obama’s background (including joining the chorus of “birthers”), Trump was by far the biggest butt of the evening’s jokes. As the following videos demonstrate, both President Obama and “Saturday Night Live” head writer Seth Meyers spent plenty of time making fun of Trump, from Trump’s hair to his birtherism to his television hucksterism.
However, unlike other targets, such as Matthews and the folks at National Public Radio, Trump did not take the jokes on him so well, sitting stone-faced during most mentions of his name. This was somewhat surprising, as he should have known that the C-SPAN cameras covering the Correspondents’ Dinner nearly always cut to reaction shots of attendees who are mentioned by name from the podium. Whether Trump’s chances are good at winning the Republican Presidential nomination is unknown, but it’s a good bet that American voters like their politicians to be able to laugh at themselves once in a while.
© 2011 Matthew Emmer -- All Rights Reserved
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