Predictably, Fox News served up plenty of sour grapes over President Obama’s White House Correspondents Dinner jokes. While TMZ said Obama “absolutely SLAYED it,” the hosts of Outnumbered worked very hard to make you think he was a dud. They complained about “a mostly unsmiling president” who used the word “piss off” and whose jabs at Fox News are “getting a little old.” And then they found a way to gush over the latest Benghazi developments - even though there weren't any.
Co-host Sandra Smith refrained from reprising her own “White Hizzy” knee-slapper as she announced, “President Obama on the offense at the White House Correspondents dinner. While last year’s event was filled with jokes poking fun at himself, smiling, laughter, this year a mostly unsmiling president roasting Republicans and a quote, do-nothing Congress over ObamaCare and unemployment benefits. He also tore into the media at times to more crickets than laughs. …Here are some of the president’s best lines and biggest bombs."
For the record, I thought he poked fun at himself plenty of times. A few examples:
- In 2008, my slogan was “Yes, we can.” In 2013, my slogan was “Control, alt, delete.”
- Some of you know that Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently announced that he’s naming a high school after me in Chicago. I was even more flattered to hear that Rick Perry, who is here tonight, is doing the same thing in Texas. Take a look. [Laughter] Thank you, Rick. It means a lot to me. (The photo showed the name “Raging Socialist Preparatory School” with an announcement for a bake sale where “all proceeds will be divided equally.”
- Plus, he closed with a gag about HealthCare.gov glitches.
Co-host Harris Faulkner complained about President Obama’s use of the term “piss off” in his joke, “Gridlock has gotten so bad in this town, you have to wonder what did we do to piss off Chris Christie so bad.”
The president is always very funny, right? He’s got great comedic timing. I did think there were a couple of times – and I kind of canvassed the room for a moment when he said – and I don’t even like saying this on TV – but to hear it come out of the president’s mouth...
It made me feel like, wow, he couldn’t have come up with a different word? And I heard it in the crowd, reverberating. That doesn’t sound like it should come out of the president’s mouth. And again, I’m not a prude… but I did hear some of that.
I have to wonder how much “canvassing” Faulkner really did or whether she “heard some of that” at her Fox News table.
Tucker Carlson agreed. “He’s got the timing. …He’s funny …But this is not an opportunity for score settling and never has been. It’s an opportunity to make fun of yourself and there’s nothing more endearing than self-deprecating humor and that’s obviously really hard for him.”
Shortly thereafter, a photo of Greta Van Susteren, Faulkner and Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy appeared. Faulkner announced:
That is Representative Trey Gowdy, out of South Carolina, whose name is being tossed around to possibly lead the Benghazi Select Committee. So I asked him about that. Obviously, I wouldn’t miss that opportunity. And he said that, you know, if he gets a chance, as a former prosecutor, he’ll be excited to do it but he wouldn’t say whether or not he really had been chosen to chair. He said he didn’t know at that point…
In other words, Faulkner used the photo op a) as an excuse to talk about Benghazi, b) to make it sound like such an exciting story that she wouldn’t miss any opportunity to ask a Congressman about it and c) to make it clear that even no news about Benghazi is newsworthy.
“Very interesting!” one of the other women gushed off camera.
My guess is that was the voice of Andrea Tantaros. Her 2013 exhortation for her radio show listeners to do her a favor and “punch (an Obama supporter) in the face” has not proved any barrier in her role as a Fox News co-host.
When asked about the “different tone” of this year’s remarks, “Punchy” Tantaros answered, “Second term! He’s getting a little bit more aggressive. ...The digs at Fox News – kind of predictable. It’s getting a little old. He does that in his daily life.”
Like Fox News' jabs at Obama are not kind of predictable and “a little old?”
Later, Tantaros announced, “I didn’t want to spend my Saturday night with President Obama.”
Faulkner laughed appreciatively and said, “Andrea, you are really funny.”
Thank goodness Tantaros "only" urged someone to punch an Obama supporter in the face and never said, “piss off.”
In case you missed it, you can watch Obama's full White House Correspondents Dinner remarks below the Fox News discussion.
Weird that they should focus on the President’s deadpan delivery, … I seem to remember a guy called Buster Keaton who never but never cracked a smile and even Chaplin was mostly serious. Deprecating a deadpan delivery may not work with the older viewers who might just remember the days when humor was not so “in-your-face” ugly (à la Gutfield) or a total failure (à la Morris, whose desperate attempts at deadpan humor fall so miserably flat).
I’m glad the President is finally poking a bit of (gentle, IMO) fun at Fox where the delivery is mostly petty, nasty and vulgar. The only host with a bit of humor may be Shep Smith (and I remain perplexed that he could stay with them more than another day).
Can’t wait to view the whole speech this evening. May take a pass on the new version of The Five, although I’m getting the impression they’re starting to antagonise a lot of older women with their retrograde theories.
“The Fox News reaction to the Correspondents’ Dinner reads as what it really is – a tantrum over the fact that they hate the fact that President Obama is indeed the President. "
Here’s the translation in “Hate Nation” language:
“WE CAN’T F***ING BELIEVE THERE’S A F***ING DARKIE LIVING IN THE WHITE HOUSE!”
’Nuff said.
The other part of it, which has now been voiced on pretty much every Fox News program, is Ailes’ caution to GOP candidates: Every pundit and anchor is “just asking” the question of whether it’s a good idea for the GOP to focus on Benghazi again when they could be discussing “the economy and jobs”. Or maybe that’s just a coincidence…
The reality is that if the GOP were to focus on the actual economic issues, they’d have to explain why they refused to extend unemployment benefits, why they voted against an increase in the minimum wage, why they have repeatedly done whatever they could to gum up the works, why GOP governors have tried to cripple the ACA by refusing to join the exchanges, etc. (And that last will be rectified as various GOP governors get voted out and Dems get in, such as in Florida. With each of those cases, you’ll see another flood of exchanges opening and people getting coverage. And with each further state where this happens, the GOP dream of somehow instantaneously repealing the ACA becomes more and more of a figment.)
The Fox News reaction to the Correspondents’ Dinner reads as what it really is – a tantrum over the fact that they hate the fact that President Obama is indeed the President. All the rest is just dressing.
The Hate Nation crowd is probably freaking out that a black female face is on Fox “News.” They are probably sending hate mail demanding Fox to replace Harris with another blonde female.
If Hate Nation did a poll between choosing Harris Faulkner and Laurie Dhue for Outnumbered, Dhue overwhelmingly would win.
By the way, these bimbos forgot to mention Hucky’s and Hannocchio’s love of half-naked Putin.
NOTE TO HARRIS
Let’s see you advocate for more minorities in front of the camera instead of behind the camera.