On April 30, the White House hosted the last correspondents’ dinner of President Obama’s administration. Obama gave a funny and well-received speech with topics ranging from Donald Trump to a video with former Speaker John Boehner. But the other main speaker of the night, Nightly Show host Larry Wilmore, delivered a speech that was met with mixed reactions from both the crowd and the critics. Wilmore’s jokes hit a little too close to home for some people, and certainly no other entertainer in the history of the event has been as brash and uncensored as he was.
Examples of such offenses were spread throughout the duration of his 22-minute speech, targeting both politicians and the media alike. Examples of this include calling himself “a black man who replaced a white man who pretended to be a TV newscaster”; later adding that he and Lester Holt — the news anchor who replaced Brian Williams — had this in common; saying Trump has “stupid little baby hands”; claiming Chris Christie has no pride nor dignity; and telling a long, convoluted joke about Ted Cruz being the Zodiac killer. These are just a few of the on-the-nose, close-to-home jokes that Wilmore dished out Saturday. The common theme was that he delivered them as though they were intended to insult. The entertainer should have been funny, but he should have also blended his comedy with the class and poise that is needed for speaking in front of Washington officials at the White House.
Shots are typically taken at the president during the speech, but no entertainer before this year has ever done so on such a personal level. As opposed to casually poking fun at Obama, Wilmore delivered blows. He referenced Obama’s inability to close Guantanamo Bay and joked about his hair being so white that “it tried to punch [him] at a Trump rally.” He even took a shot at Vice President Joe Biden, essentially comparing his job to being the president’s housekeeper. Though all done in good fun, these jokes were not appropriate for the room. One can only make fun of the leader of the free world so much before being met with skepticism. He also threw several journalists and entire media organizations under the bus, and did so with much more disrespect than is typical at the dinner.
I personally like to think of myself as someone who has a good sense of humor. I thought Wilmore had some funny jokes, but I think his approach was too aggressive and offensive. The most controversial comment of the night was Wilmore’s last line, in which he said “Yo, Barry, you did it, my n—-!” This was met with criticism from the media, which cited how calling the president n—- was unprecedented. Obama said the word last year and was met with similar criticisms concerning its appropriateness, but I think both Wilmore and Obama had the right to use it. Many of the jokes Wilmore made revolved around his and the president’s race. The jokes were good for the most part, but his delivery was inappropriate. Crossing the line is not excusable at a White House event, especially during a time when political correctness defines one’s freedom of speech. My props go out to both Obama and Wilmore for entertaining the crowd, though this wasn’t the time nor place for such comments to be made.
Kyle Campbell is a sophomore government and politics major. He can be reached at kcampbelldbk@gmail.com.
