Journalists worry comedian Michelle Wolf's biting monologue at the White House Correspondents' Dinner went too far

REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders arrives onstage at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington on April 28, 2018; Comedian Michelle Wolf performs at the dinner.

• Comedian Michelle Wolf's racy monologue at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Saturday night has elicited mixed reactions across media and politics.
• President Donald Trump skipped the dinner for the second year in a row, but some members of administration were present to take jabs from Wolf.
• Some thought Wolf's jokes crossed the line beyond the dinner's lighthearted tradition.

The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner featured a racy and targeted monologue from comedian Michelle Wolf that has prompted mixed reactions from journalists, pundits, and politicians.

The dinner is traditionally known as an annual chance for officials and correspondents alike to take a few humorous hits, but many felt this year's jabs went beyond the event's lighthearted nature.

Wolf expectedly commented on President Donald Trump, who skipped the dinner for the second year in a row, but prompted groans and backlash with searing insults about individuals on the president's staff.

Some of the strongest reactions were after Wolf took aim at press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was seated a few feet to Wolf's left at the head table.

"I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful," Wolf said. "She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Like maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies."

Journalists took notice of Wolf's jokes as especially edgy, and responses like tweets from The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Fox News' Abby Huntsman noted Sanders' gracious tolerance:

NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell pointed out that the event has a tradition of telling jokes that "singe but don't burn."

Wolf also targeted Vice President Mike Pence ("what happens when Anderson Cooper isn't gay"), counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway ("has the perfect last name for what she does"), first daughter Ivanka Trump ("done nothing to satisfy women ... like father like daughter").

When the audience groaned after a crass joke, Wolf laughed, saying, "Yeah, shoulda done more research before you got me to do this."

Former Trump allies and White House officials in attendance reacted to Wolf's relentless jabs, with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeting the dinner was a "disgrace," and former chief of staff Reince Priebus concluding that Trump's supporters and critics alike felt the "uncomfortable" atmosphere.

Though her one-liners are the expense of Democrats weren't as biting as they were for the Republican administration, Wolf did have one killer insult for former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"It is kinda crazy that the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn't even in contact with Michigan," she said.

Others thought that Wolf's jokes were fair game and in-tune with the unbelievable nature of the current administration:

Trump skipped the Washington tradition for a campaign-style rally in Washington Township, Michigan and afterwards tweeted the dinner was a "big, boring bust."

According to an online statement by WHCA President Margaret Talev announcing Wolf's performance, the dinner is an annual event to meant to "honor the First Amendment and strong, independent journalism."

Talev appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday morning and said while "comedy is meant to be provocative," the dinner "may have fallen a little bit short" of its goal in "unifying the country."

Watch Wolf's full set below: