Infinite Jest

In early February, Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, announced that Amber Ruffin would be the featured comedian at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Amber’s unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate,” Daniels said. “This dinner is about centering the importance of a functioning democracy and Amber is the type of entertainer who understands both the significance of that mission as well as the mechanics of power in this country.” Late last month, however, Ruffin was cut, and Daniels sounded a very different note: “At this consequential moment for journalism,” he said, “I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division.” What changed? In the interim, relations between the White House and the press corps that covers it had soured, not least after officials banned the Associated Press from various settings; Ruffin, for her part, went on a podcast, referred to the administration as “kinda a bunch of murderers,” and suggested that she wouldn’t mock both political sides evenhandedly in her dinner appearance (as the WHCA had apparently requested), drawing the ire of the White House. The WHCA insisted that the pushback had nothing to do with its decision to cut Ruffin, but faced accusations of cowardice regardless. “I thought when people take away your rights, erase your history, and deport your friends, you’re supposed to call it out, but I was wrong,” Ruffin said afterward. “We have a free press so that we can be nice to Republicans at fancy dinners.”