Comedian and late-night TV host Amber Ruffin has been dropped as the host of the White House press dinner following her criticism of the Trump administration.
The US comic, best known for hosting The Amber Ruffin Show, will no longer headline this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner on 26 April, after the association’s board of nine executive members unanimously voted to remove her.
The WHCA, founded in 1914, is a professional organisation of journalists who cover the White House. Ruffin was named as the host for the event less than two months ago.
‘A bunch of murderers’
The comedian, who came out as queer last year to mark the end of Pride month, said she refused WHCA instructions to mock both Republicans and Democrats in her address. She described the current administration as “kind of a bunch of murderers”, LGBTQ Nation reported.
Ruffin said that criticising their Democratic opponents “makes [the administration] feel like human beings but they shouldn’t get to feel that way because they’re not. I’m going to do it the same way I always do it, by just telling the truth about how I feel”.
In response, deputy White House chief of staff Taylor Budowich wrote on X/Twitter: “This year’s WHCA dinner will be hosted by a second-rate comedian who is previewing the event by calling this administration murderers. What kind of company would sponsor such a hate-filled and violence-inspiring event?”
‘I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division’
In a letter to the press corps, announcing Ruffin’s removal, gay WHCA president Eugene Daniels wrote: “At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
The event has often been criticised for fostering socialisation between political journalists and politicians, but one of the most famous recent dinners was in 2011 when Trump was the butt of a series of jokes from then president Barack Obama.
It’s not known yet if Trump will attend this year’s event but in February the administration announced that they rather than the WHCA would determine which journalists could cover White House press briefings, clearing the way for right-wing media outlets as the preferred choice.
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