Clinton "can't wait" for White House Correspondents Dinner, Kate McKinnon to host
WASHINGTON D.C. -- President Hillary Rodham Clinton announced Sunday morning that she "literally cannot wait to attend the White House Correspondents dinner" as a show of goodwill to the press and because "Kate McKinnon is performing, so it's guaranteed to be sick."
Clinton noted that every president has attended the correspondents dinner since 1981, when President Reagan failed to appear while recovering from an assassination attempt.
Indeed, in terms of tradition, Clinton said she thinks that the president's attending the White House Correspondents Dinner is "conceptually vital to the dinner, almost as important as the press attending press conferences," calling a free press "the bedrock of our democracy."
"It's the job of White House correspondents to hold the White House accountable. Obviously a president needs to be strong enough to take a joke and take some criticism,” she told reporters. “If you can’t do that for some reason, you probably would not make a good president.”
SNL's breakout star Kate McKinnon said that as a comedian, she was nervous about competing with the president, who "absolutely killed it at the Al Smith Dinner" during the campaign. "I've got a tough act to follow," she said.
Clinton's sardonic wit was evident after the 2016 WHCA dinner, when President Obama took aim at Hillary’s trouble connecting with younger voters.
“Hillary trying to appeal to young voters is a little bit like your relative that just signed up for Facebook,” Obama said at the 2016 dinner.
Clinton responded with a deadpan tweet to President Obama saying, “Nice job last night. Aunt Hillary approves.”
TBS's Samantha Bee is also expected to attend, as is the pop megastar and Clinton supporter Katy Perry. Page 6 is reporting rumors that the dinner will also feature the elusive Jon Stewart, who was last seen reassuring a bald eagle at Standing Rock that his country dodged a bullet last November.
