Michelle Wolf will host the White House Correspondents Dinner later this month, and, alack, alas, Donald Trump won't be attendance. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night, Wolf joked that this is a-okay with her: She's better off not having to dine with with president.
"The first thing I thought was, 'Oh, thank God, I don't have to hear Trump eat,'" she told host Kimmel. "You know he probably doesn't chew with his mouth closed. He's, like, a real smacky eater and a mouth breather at the same time."
The White House Correspondents Dinner gets a lot of attention for the performances — Wolf will give a 25-minute stand up set roasting the President and various aspects of Washington. Traditionally, the President also does a tight five. President Obama was known for crushing at the WHCD. (Remember when, in 2011, he brought out the tape from The Lion King as proof of his birth? He also once brought out Keegan-Michael Key as his "anger translator." Yeah.) The "dinner" part of the ceremony isn't a big focus of WHCD coverage, but it does happen. And, the comedian who provides the jokes often sits next to the President and the First Lady on the dais. Lucky for Wolf, Trump won't be in attendance. (Trump also did not attend last year.) Instead, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will attend in his stead.
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The dinner, which started in 1921, is a bizarre meeting of Hollywood and journalism as the Washington correspondents gather to celebrate the relationship between journalism and the executive branch. These days, proceeds from the dinner go to fund scholarships for aspiring journalists. The dinner is also known as nerd prom. Traditionally, it's a ritzy, buzzy affair, but with tensions rising between the press and an increasingly hectic White House, it's become more subversive.
Poor Wolf has to write a set of jokes about one of the strangest administrations to date. Speaking to Rolling Stone, she admitted that she's ready to rewrite her jokes, should another firing occur.
"There's a point where I could have done like 15 Hope Hicks jokes," she explained. "I'm definitely not writing a lot of John Kelly jokes in advance."
Watch her full segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.
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