The press association has chosen a renowned historian to lead its dinner party, ending a long tradition of hiring a comedian as keynote speaker. Earlier this year, a comedian sparked controversy with a hard-hitting act.
"As we celebrate the importance of a free and independent news media to the health of the republic, I look forward to hearing Ron place this unusual moment in the context of American history," said WHCA president Olivier Knox.
The decision to pick Chernow marks the end of a longstanding tradition of hosting a comedian to lead a light-hearted roast of the sitting president. While former presidents have traditionally attended the press dinner, President Donald Trump has skipped out on the event since assuming office.
'Cowards'
Earlier this year, comedian Michelle Wolf delivered a controversial performance at the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner that drew criticism from Republican and Democrat supporters. Wolf was criticized in particular for gags targeting White House press spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "I actually really like Sarah. I think she's really resourceful. I mean, she burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies."
In a tweet, Wolf criticized the WHCA's decision, saying: "The WHCA are cowards. The media is complicit. And I couldn't be prouder."
The presidential roast had become a tradition at the White House Correspondents' DinnerImage: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Douliery
Three of Wolf's other hard-hitting jokes at the dinner:
"Trump is a racist though. He loves white nationalists, which is a weird term for a Nazi. Calling a Nazi a white nationalist is like calling a pedophile a kid friend, or Harvey Weinstein a ladies' man — which isn't really fair, he also likes plants."
"There's also, of course, Ivanka [Trump]. She was supposed to be an advocate for women, but it turns out she's about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons. She's done nothing to satisfy women, so I guess, like father, like daughter."
"I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn't sell steaks or vodka or water or college or ties or Eric, but he has helped you. He has helped you sell your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster and now you are profiting from him."
Comedian Michelle Wolf was criticized for her hard-hitting act at the press dinnerImage: picture alliance/dpa/R. Sachs
First Amendment on the agenda
Although Chernow isn't expected to deliver a roast of the president, he is slated to speak about free speech as enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution and suggested he may have a bit of a laugh in the process.
"Freedom of the press is always a timely subject and this seems like the perfect moment to go back to basics," Chernow said. "While I have never been mistaken for a stand-up comedian, I promise that my history lesson won't be dry."
Donald Trump was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2017. Here's how magazine covers depicted him over the last year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/Time Magazine
The new statesman
This cover from the end of 2016 most likely pleased the newly elected US president. Time magazine picked Donald Trump as Person of the Year, a title that was also once given to Konrad Adenauer, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King — as well as Hitler and Stalin. The annual end-of-year feature picks someone who, "for better or for worse ... has done the most to influence the events of the year."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/Time Magazine
With a Hitler mustache
Even before Trump's election, the Mexican magazine Letras Libres made its opinion on Trump absolutely clear, using the words "American fascist" to form a Hitler mustache on his portrait. Building a wall on the US-Mexico border and clamping down on Mexican immigrants were some of Trump's electoral promises.
Image: Letras libras
Walling in
Two weeks after Donald Trump's election, the New Yorker creatively commented on the president's border wall project. From subtle to explicitly insensitive depictions, international magazine covers featured a broad range of styles while commenting on Trump's policies throughout the year.
Image: The New Yorker
A rhetorical question
Renowned for its confrontational style, Charlie Hebdo also took on the newly elected US president. In a depiction referring to Trump's infamous "grab women by the pussy" comments, the November 16, 2016, issue asked: "Did we have to entrust him with the nuclear button?"
Image: Charlie Hebdo
The prescience of the Simpsons
Donald Trump as US president: What was supposed to be a joke in The Simpsons turned out to be true 16 years later. British tabloid The Sun referred to the sitcom's prophecy on its cover, showing Homer shocked by the turn of events, reacting with his catchphrase, "D'oh!"
Image: The Sun
American psycho
The center-left French newspaper Libération reacted to the election with biting sarcasm. The headline was borrowed from a Bret Easton Ellis novel, "American Psycho." Its narrator and main character, Patrick Bateman, is rich, superficial and narcissistic. There are numerous parallels to be drawn with the US president — but the fictional character is also a serial killer.
Image: Libération
Nothing to see here
Some commentators hoped Trump would soften the tone he used during his campaign once he took office. On this Time magazine cover, illustrator Tim O'Brien used fine paintbrush strokes to depict Trump's chaotic first weeks in the White House.
Image: Time Magazine
At the wheel
After Trump's inauguration, the New Yorker commented on the childish behavior of the man who would from then on be steering the country. "Every so often, you hear stories on the news about a toddler who somehow manages to start the family car and drive the vehicle across town, where the law finally apprehends him," said the artist behind the cover, Barry Blitt.
Image: The New Yorker
An insurgent in the White House
The British weekly The Economist was inspired by Banksy's famous artwork of a rioter throwing flowers for last February's issue. It reacted to Trump's first weeks in office, when he "lobbed the first Molotov cocktail of policies and executive orders against the capital's brilliant-white porticos," wrote the magazine's editor, adding, "With Trump, chaos seems to be part of the plan."
Image: The Economist
Beheading freedom
A cartoon figure of Trump holding a bloodied knife and the Statue of Liberty's head: The cover of German weekly Der Spiegel made headlines worldwide. It reacted to Trump's "America First" policy and his threats to democracy, including his executive order to bar people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country. The cover divided opinions within the country and abroad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K.-U. Wärner
Take your kids to work every day
It's both a challenge and a goldmine for satirists: Trump's politics and habits are often more bizarre than satire itself. On this cover, Mad magazine commented on the White House role given to the president's daughter Ivanka and to his son-in-law and presidential adviser, Jared Kushner, who was morphed into the traits of the magazine's iconic mascot, Alfred E. Neuman.
Image: Mad
The mouthpiece of white supremacists
After a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a participant drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 people. Trump then declared that there were "very fine people" marching with the white supremacists that day, a comment which drew praise from former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke. The Economist reacted with this cover.
Image: The Economist
Tailwind from the president
Following the Charlottesville rally events, The New Yorker also took aim at Trump's remarks equating neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan to the counter-protesters. "President Trump's weak pushback to hate groups — as if he was trying not to alienate them as voters — compelled me to take up my pen," said artist David Plunkert of his cover, entitled "Blowhard."
Image: The New Yorker
Breaking a taboo: a Hitler comparison
The German weekly Stern went one step further by unsubtly portraying Trump draped in the American flag and giving a Nazi salute. The cover story was headlined "Sein Kampf," (His Struggle), a play on Adolf Hitler's infamous "Mein Kampf" book. It drew sharp criticism from the Central Council of Jews for belittling Hitler's crimes. Misappropriating Nazi symbols is taboo in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Sohn
Lazy boy
In early August, Newsweek magazine depicted Trump as a fast food-eating, bored TV junkie — descriptions also found in the book "Fire and Fury." Headlined "LAZY BOY: Donald Trump is bored and tired. Imagine how bad he'd feel if he did any work," the issue also pointed out that during his six months in office, he had spent 40 days at golf clubs, but had seen zero pieces of major legislation passed.
Image: Newsweek
A prominent phony
Trump likes to describe any media criticizing him as " fake news," but he's also renowned for his own twisting of the truth. This fake Time magazine cover praising Trump's TV show "The Apprentice" in 2009 was framed and on prominent display in at least five of his golf clubs. When the story came out last June, it felt like the perfect embodiment of Trump's narcissism and lies.
Russian bride of the year
Twitter went wild after the fake Time magazine cover story came out. Thousands of memes poking fun at Trump were created using the magazine's iconic template. This one photoshopped the Person of the Year issue to turn Donald Trump into the "Russian bride of the Year," commenting on Trump's questionable Russian ties.
