Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro took aim at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night, calling it a “cesspool” and saying that the “DC elites” who attend are “all part of the same blob.”
Shapiro, who was not in attendance at the dinner, made his comments on his podcast, “The Ben Shapiro Show.” He said that the dinner is “a joke” and that it is “a way for the media to pat themselves on the back.”
“It’s a cesspool of self-congratulatory back-slapping,” Shapiro said. “It’s a way for the media to pretend that they’re important and that they’re relevant.”
Shapiro also criticized the media for its “bias” against President Donald Trump. He said that the media is “out of touch” with the American people and that they are “more interested in protecting their own power than they are in informing the public.”
“The media is a joke,” Shapiro said. “They’re not interested in journalism. They’re interested in protecting their own power and their own status quo.”
Shapiro wrote, “Hey look, it’s Joe Biden openly joking about the fact that he takes no questions – and the press are laughing uproariously as they give an award to a ‘journalist’ who writes sop pieces about him! Hey look, there’s [Republican National Committee chairwoman] Ronna McDaniel hanging with [Democratic National Committee chairman] Jaime Harrison!”
Biden attended for the second year in a row after the dinner was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. Former President Donald Trump shunned the event for three years amid his adversarial relations with major media outlets in New York and Washington.
There were journalists from major networks such as CBS and Fox News partying alongside numerous Republicans and Democratic leaders, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The event also featured stars from sports, Hollywood, fashion, and elsewhere, such as actress Chrissy Teigen and WNBA star and former Russian prisoner Brittany Griner.
Hey look, it's Joe Biden openly joking about the fact that he takes no questions — and the press are laughing uproariously as they give an award to a "journalist" who writes sop pieces about him! Hey look, there's Ronna McDaniel hanging with Jaime Harrison!
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 1, 2023