The predictable disgrace of the White House Correspondents Dinner

The insults. The lies. The extremely unfunny attempts at humor.

The lack of respect for the role of the free press. The lack of respect for the U.S. Constitution, which forbids a Trump run for president in 2028. The lack of respect for the rule of law.

Any one of these should have been reason enough not to invite Donald Trump to the rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner, which is billed as an annual celebration of the First Amendment.

But for reasons that continue to baffle and anger me, the organizers — journalists and media figures who should know better — did so anyway.

What happened was predictable. Tom Jones of Poynter correctly forecast that it would be “a complete clown show.” It was.

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