The Saddest Roast

Legend has it that Donald Trump’s decision to run for president can be traced back to the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, when President Obama openly mocked Trump, who was in attendance, after years of Trump pushing the birther conspiracy theory. Trump never attended the Correspondents’ Dinner Again, including during his first term in office — that was until this year. After the initially scheduled dinner was postponed following an attempt by a gunman to breach the event, a rescheduled, scaled-down gathering took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., on Friday night. Traditionally, presidents’ speeches at the Correspondents’ Dinner are a mix of self-deprecation and good-spirited potshots at the press and political foes. Trump, clearly with an axe to grind against many present in the room (and others who weren’t), opted instead for a sort of Comedy Central-style roast. The only problem was that no one else participated in said roast, the jokes weren’t any good, and no one (aside from a few Trump sycophants) was laughing. Trump also frequently got sidetracked by digressions about the White House Ballroom, chandeliers, the UFC fight at the White House, his Freedom...