If you are willing to make it before your were the POTUS you sure can go to it now. The Correspondents' Dinner was started in 1921 and the tradition for the President to be at this event happened three years later with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The roast portion of the dinner started in 1983 during Reagan's first term in office. According to the BBC there have only been a small handful of times that a President has skipped the dinner:
- Nixon (1972)- Skipped it to avoid any questions about Watergate (Trump may be playing a Nixon card in lieu of what might unfold with the Trump/Russia relationship).
- Carter (1978)- Carter was exhausted from everything going on in his term so he decided that a night off from the spotlight was a good idea.
- Reagan (1981)- Reagan was recovering at Camp David after a failed assassination attempt that injured him, but obviously did not kill him.
The big underlying issue with him skipping the Correspondents' Dinner is simply he does not want to look bad or deal with any negative press towards him...plus the fact that he keeps labeling left-leaning media companies as "fake news" and continues to only favor right-wing sources. Just days before he decided to skip the dinner he also banned several news outlets from attending an informal, but on the record, press briefing with Sean Spicer. Those included on the ban were the following:
- CNN
- Los Angeles Times
- New York Times
- Politico
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- The Guardian
- The Daily Mail
- Buzzfeed
The BBC mentions that this was supposed to be a formal on-camera briefing, but was changed to an informal "gaggle" in Spicer's office. Regardless, these are the agencies that were allowed in:
- Breitbart
- Fox News
- Washington Times
- One America News
- ABC
- Reuters
- Associated Press
- USA Today
The last two on that list, AP and USA Today, declined to show up as they showed solidarity to all the major organisations that keep being abused and hounded by the Trump Administration. Adding an interesting twist to the story is the fact that Fox News, who was invited and present at the briefing, announced they were joining in on the complaint against the White House for their extreme selection bias against the likes of CNN, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. Even though Fox News was on complicated terms with the Obama Administration they were never banned from the press pool, but people on the right side of the spectrum think that Obama not wanting to do interviews with them is the same as Trump banning news agencies from asking his camp questions during press conferences.
He needs to save face and show up to the Correspondents' Dinner and let some people have a chance to throw some light-hearted barbs his way. Considering how he was dealt with the treatment of his presidency on Saturday Night Live I am sure he would be offended with even the softest of jokes pointed his way. He needs to shed his "computer tough guy" persona and let loose. The biggest issue with his personality is that he is too tight and can't seem to figure out how to let jokes be jokes. The constant bashing of the media and any celebrity while ignoring legitimately serious issues both foreign and domestic will be his downfall.
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