The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) is taking heat the day after comedian Michelle Wolf took shots from the stage at presidential press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
A number of observers in attendance felt the former “Daily Show” comedian went over the line with her jokes, which drew heavy conservative fire on Sunday.
White House national security adviser John Bolton slammed the event in an interview with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” saying he was happy not to attend.
“Just reprehensible behavior by someone addressing the gathering, and sadly it’s par for the course in Washington today,” Bolton said.
Fox News reporter Ed Henry called on WHCA to apologize to Sanders.
Other high-profile journalists also criticized the event, and the president of the group that organizes the dinner distanced herself from the material, though she did not offer an apology.
Margaret Talev, president of the WHCA, told Politico that some of Wolf’s jokes made her “uncomfortable.”
“I appreciated Sarah Sanders for joining us at the head table and her grace through the program,” Talev said.
Talev said she went over to Sanders shortly after Wolf’s routine.
“I told her that I knew this was a big decision whether or not to attend the dinner and whether to sit at the head table and that I really appreciated her being there, that I thought it sent an important decision about the role government and the press being able to work together,” Talev said.
“Michelle Wolf is a comedian and she speaks for herself, and that is her right to do that under the free speech and the First Amendment, which we were celebrating,” she told CNN’s Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources.”
The association, according to Talev, does not preview or censor the entertainer’s remarks.
“I think the comedian reflects on the press corps but I don’t think the comedian speaks for the press corps,” she said. “The press corps speaks for itself.”
Later on Sunday, Talev released a stronger statement acknowledging the “dismay” from certain members over Wolf’s comments and how they diverged from the organization’s mission to “offer a unifying message” about upholding free speech “while honoring civility.”
“Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission,” Wolf said.