*By Tracey Cheek*
In a sharp contrast to years past, the White House Correspondents' Dinner will not feature a class clown, but a professor ー First Amendment historian Ron Chernow.
The sober-minded selection comes after comedian Michelle Wolf's take-no-prisoners routine at the last event in April ー her jabs at Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in particular, incited outrage from the White House and some of the reporters in attendance.
“\[Chernow is\] not going to be controversial, he’ll be a very ‘eat your vegetables’ performer," said Jon Levine, media editor at The Wrap
Chernow ー a significant deviation from the likes of Stephen Colbert and Wanda Sykes ー is best known for his thick volumes on American presidents. Perhaps most notably, his book on Alexander Hamilton inspired the hit Broadway musical and cultural phenomenon, “Hamilton.”
But does it really matter who gets up and tells jokesー or in this year's case, gives a history lesson ー to a group of journalists? Levine said that the White House Correspondents' Dinner has been criticized as an access journalism event, and for all the rumblings, it's not particularly important.
“The event has gotten criticism since as long as I can remember," he said." From a lot of journalists who say it’s weird to sort of be writing all this very tough coverage about Trump or Sarah Sanders or whatever, and then you go there and have drinks with everybody and pal around. It's a little strange.”
President Trump has not shown up to a White House Correspondents dinner since taking office, in contrast to his predecessors, and Levine is positive that this year will be no exception.
“There is not a question, he will not show up,” he said.
“It’s clearly just not his thing. He knows that he goes after the press every single day. It would be a hostile audience. It would be at best awkward.”
The Biden administration has stopped taking mobile app appointments to admit asylum-seekers at a Texas border crossing that connects to a notoriously dangerous Mexican city after advocates warned U.S. authorities that migrants were being targeted there for extortion.
Donald Trump arrived in Florida on Monday ahead of a history-making federal court appearance on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get them back.
The Supreme Court said Monday it won't review North Carolina's decision to stop issuing specialty license plates with the Confederate flag.
The Human Rights Campaign has declared a state of emergency for the lgbtq+ community. The unprecedented move comes after the passage of more than 75 anti-gay bills this year alone. Here with more is Cheddar News senior reporter Chloe Aiello.
President Joe Biden welcomed hundreds to the White House on Saturday for a delayed Pride Month celebration aimed at showing LGBTQ+ people that his administration has their back at a time when advocates are warning of a spike in discriminatory legislation, particularly aimed at the transgender community, sweeping through statehouses.
Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption, died Monday. He was 86.
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Cheddar News checks in to see what to look out for Next Week on the Street as former president Donald Trump makes an appearance in federal court after being indicted. Investors will also keep an eye on the Federal Reserve meeting to see what comes out of that while earnings continue to pour in.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the U.S. is investing more than $100 million in the Caribbean region to crack down on weapons trafficking, help alleviate Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and support climate change initiatives.
It is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
