Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel has made a pitch to President Donald Trump: let him host this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The request came during Kimmel’s March 3 monologue, shortly after news broke that Trump plans to attend the annual gathering.
Jimmy Kimmel jokes about White House Correspondents’ Dinner
The decision is a change for Trump, who famously skipped the dinner during his entire first term. His last attendance was in 2011, when he was seated in the audience as a celebrity guest rather than a political figure. Now, with Donald Trump set to return, Jimmy Kimmel is questioning one major change to the evening’s format: the choice of entertainer for the event.
Instead of booking a traditional comedic host, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has tapped Oz Pearlman, a renowned mentalist, to serve as the master of ceremonies. “The dinner is traditionally hosted by a comedian,” Kimmel explained to his audience. “Al Franken hosted it. Ray Romano, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, Conan [O’Brien], Wanda Sykes. I googled it this morning — turns out I even hosted it back in 2012.”
He speculated that the change was intentional. “This year, I guess Trump didn’t want to be made fun of by a comedian, so the host is a mentalist. We’ll have a mentalist and a mental case onstage together.” While Kimmel acknowledged that Pearlman is an “amazing performer,” he labeled the decision to avoid a comedian as a “cop-out.” This led to a direct, tongue-in-cheek appeal to the commander-in-chief.
“Mr. President, please let me host this dinner,” Kimmel pleaded on air. “I’ve never asked you for anything, but can you imagine you, me, the commissioner of the FCC, all at a table together? Think of the ratings!”
The White House has already responded to Kimmel’s comedic plea. In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle called Kimmel a “talentless hack with failing ratings” and added that “Nobody in their right mind wants to watch or listen to him.”
