Even MAGA pundit Scott Jennings is struggling to prop up President Donald Trump’s bizarre White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech.
Speaking on CNN after Trump’s hour-long address, which was packed with head-scratching jokes and nasty attacks on the press, Jennings admitted that the president’s performance was far from immaculate.
“Some of the jokes landed, and some of the jokes didn’t,” Jennings admitted.
The evening was supposed to be a celebration of press freedom, but quickly became a stage for Trump to unleash attacks on the media, including personal insults on journalists who cover his administration.
Trump derided star CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for “never” smiling, branded commentator Don Lemon as someone with “the lowest ratings and the lowest IQ,” and declared that he has long felt that MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell does not have “any talent.”
The president’s jokes often fell flat, with many of the 700 guests in attendance being clearly disengaged as he rambled on. In CNN’s “live chat” during the dinner, Betsy Klein noted that attendees were checking their phones and speaking in hushed voices, writing: “The person at the table next to me has just poured himself a comically large glass of wine.”
Jennings nevertheless attempted to defend the president’s performance by highlighting a single joke he thought was actually funny.
“I thought the best joke was the RFK joke,” he said, referring to Trump joking that attendees were eating roadkill that was struck by the Health and Human Services Secretary’s vehicle.
As for the rest of the routine, Jennings conceded that Trump “veered off into very, sort of ornery insults, and that’s not going to land for many audiences.”
The MAGA pundit also said he enjoyed the beginning of the president’s speech, which briefly condemned political violence, given that the original White House Correspondents’ Dinner was canceled after an alleged armed assassin rushed the event in April.
