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The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj took on Washington, its journalists and, of course, President Trump at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
During his speech at the annual event, Minhaj was sure to kick off his speech by poking fun at the president, who did not attend the event.
“Welcome to the series finale of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” he began. “Historically the president usually performs at the WHCD, but I think I speak for all of us when I say, he’s done far too much bombing this month.”
By not attending, Trump has become the first sitting president to miss the event since President Ronald Reagan, who called in to the dinner after being shot in an assassination attempt. White House staff followed Trump’s decision in skipping the event, saying they would not be there in “solidarity” with the president.
Though Trump and his White Staff elected not to attend, there were plenty of targets for the emcee in the crowd, including Fox News, CNN, Bill O’Reilly, even Hillary Clinton. Below are just a few of his targets.
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1. Fox News
Minhaj started his tirade against the network, saying, “I’m surprised you guys even showed up. How are you here in public? It’s hard to trust you guys when you backed a man like Bill O’Reilly for years. It finally happened. Bill O’Reilly has been fired. But then, you gave him a $25 million severance package, making it the only package he won’t force a woman to touch. In O’Reilly’s defense he was told by a close friend, ‘When you’re a star they let you do it, you can do anything.’ ”
The Daily Show‘s senior correspondent then went in on another Fox News anchor making headlines: “Jesse Watters is ‘on a break right now.’ Just like my childhood dog is staying at a farm upstate.”
9. The press at large
“Remember election night? That was your Steve Harvey Miss Universe moment. The look on your faces at 11 p.m. on election night was like walking into Panera Bread and finding out your sixth grade teacher has a part-time job there.”
10. …Even Don Rickles.
Minaj began his guest host speech by saying, “I would say it’s an honor to be here but that would be an alternative fact, it is not, no one wanted to do this. Don Rickles died just so you wouldn’t ask him to do this gig. RIP to Don Rickles, the only Donald with skin thick enough to take a joke like that.”
Minhaj hosted the annual event the year after Larry Wilmore emceed, following late-night hosts and SNL alums, including Seth Meyers, Cecily Strong and Joel McHale.
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