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 for the first time since returning to office.
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 d 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.”
