Michelle Wolf responds to Trump trashing her comedy with a taunt about Khashoggi: 'I bet you'd be on my side if I had killed a journalist'

Alex Wong/Getty Images/Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Netflix

Comedian Michelle Wolf hit back at President Donald Trump's criticism of her performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner earlier this year.

• Comedian Michelle Wolf responded to President Donald Trump's criticism of her with a jibe about his response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Trump pummeled her performance at last year's White House Correspondents' Dinner as he welcomed the news that a comedian would not perform at the next event, ending a decades-long tradition.
• Trump said the convention ended because "Michelle Wolf bombed so badly last year."
• In response, Wolf mocked the president for appearing to side with Saudi Arabia over US intelligence over Khashoggi's death: "I bet you'd be on my side if I had killed a journalist."

Comedian Michelle Wolf responded to President Donald Trump after he criticized her performance at last year's White House Correspondents' Dinner with a jibe about his response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump celebrated the end of a decades-long tradition of having a comedian headline the event by saying that the convention was ended because "Michelle Wolf bombed so badly last year."

In response, Wolf wrote: "I bet you'd be on my side if I had killed a journalist. #BeBest," appearing to use the slogan for First Lady Melania Trump's anti-bullying campaign.

Wolf was raising Trump's response to the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who lived in the US and wrote for The Washington Post, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month.

Trump stood with Saudi Arabia even as the CIA reportedly concluded with "high confidence" that the killing was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump on Tuesday refused to blame Crown Prince Mohammed for the death, saying: "Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event - maybe he did and maybe he didn't!"

Top GOP allies have criticized him in response.

Read More: Trump's manic statement letting Saudi Arabia off the hook for Khashoggi reveals a dark US secret

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Netflix

Wolf elicited a mixed response from her performance as host at this year's dinner, which featured jokes about White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' appearance. Here she celebrates after the dinner in April.

Instead of a comedian, biographer Ron Chernow will headline the next correspondents' dinner. He wrote the book on Alexander Hamilton that was adapted into the musical "Hamilton."

Trump said in response that he may go to the event, which he has shunned since taking office. "Good first step in comeback of a dying evening and tradition!" he tweeted on Tuesday. "Maybe I will go?"

Wolf, however, responded to the news that a comedian would not be performing on Twitter by calling the White House Correspondents' Association - the organization of journalists that cover the White House - "cowards."

"The media is complicit. And I couldn't be prouder," she wrote.

Wolf's performance last year, which included jokes on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' appearance, elicited mixed reactions.

Some journalists and the White House Correspondents' Association itself criticized her performance, while others applauded the biting humor and defended free speech.

The next White House Correspondents' Dinner will take place on April 27, 2019.

Read More: Michelle Wolf's monologue at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner elicited mixed reactions across media and politics