Hurt feelings devolved to fearmongering as a reporter known for anti-Trump coverage invoked the First Amendment in a push to “rethink” the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Friday in Washington, D.C., the WHCA dinner took place some three months after a wannabe assassin prompted a postponement. During his speech, President Donald Trump’s digs at leftists and corporate media bristled more than a few feathers, leading The New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker to tout the organization’s “mission” in taking a stand against future dinners.
Following Trump’s roast of corporate media, deeming the dinner as “the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time,” Baker took to X on Saturday afternoon to insist, “Have been a member of the @whca almost continuously since the 1990s. Our mission is to defend the First Amendment rights of White House correspondents to report on the president without fear or favor. Unfortunately last night did not advance that cause. Time to rethink the dinner.”
He went on to add hours later, “To be clear, this is not a new position. The NY Times decided nearly 20 years ago, long before Trump, that we would stop attending, which was our policy under Obama and Biden. (The exception was for reporters if they won a prize to be awarded.) Last night validated that decision.”
To be clear, this is not a new position. The NY Times decided nearly 20 years ago, long before Trump, that we would stop attending, which was our policy under Obama and Biden. (The exception was for reporters if they won a prize to be awarded.) Last night validated that decision. https://t.co/eHIuYHDPzF
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 26, 2026
Baker’s caveat harkened back to his own appearance at the 2024 WHCD where he was awarded for “Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure” after covering then-President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel days after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack.
Absent from the fawning coverage was how that trip included a post from the White House allegedly doxxing members of a special forces team before later deleting the image.
Meanwhile, Baker’s wife, and co-author of the book deeming Trump “The Divider,” likewise sounded off, “#FirstAmendment. If journalists won’t stand up for it, hard to ask everyone else to.”
#FirstAmendment. If journalists won’t stand up for it, hard to ask everyone else to.
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) July 25, 2026
Earning the same award as Baker for broadcast for her coverage of the Oval Office encounter with the administration and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that led to his being dismissed from the White House, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was especially mocked during Trump’s speech.
Of course, the comparison to Bud Light boycott-launching Dylan Mulvaney only further outed corporate media’s mental gymnastics as the same people that would support the delusion that Mulvaney is a woman contended any mockery of a likeness between him and Collins must be “transphobic.”
The president made note of the Times’ longstanding absence, referring to the newspaper as the “failing New York Times” as he asked, “Do they ever come to these things? Didn’t they cancel out a long time ago? Big mistake. They should be here.”
As for Baker, early in his second administration, Trump referred to the correspondent as “Liddle’ Peter Baker, a really bad writer and Obama biographer and sycophant,” only outdone by his wife “Maggot Hagerman” for lacking talent.
“There’s something really wrong with these people, and their SICK, TRUMP DERANGED EDITORS,” he went on as reactions to Baker’s post drew similar assertions.
You work for the two most liberal outlets in America. Your POV isn’t neutral. It’s biased. So why would anyone listen to you?
— Jean Valjean (@jeanvaljean2022) July 26, 2026
Are you going to pretend to be a non-biased reporter? lol.
— sandycravens (@sandycravens6) July 26, 2026
So, your “time to rethink the dinner” wasn’t a new thought, but was merely retreading an old thought & presenting it as new, huh? You media people are so self-infatuated and disingenuous.
Anything to say about @kwelkernbc chumming it up like pals with the Hitleresque @StephenM?
— Fred (@Fred9025227577) July 26, 2026
The NYT doesn’t know how to handle any criticism so it joins cancel culture. We know, Peter. You act like this is on principle or something, but it’s just a total lack of humility and class. You can’t take the heat so you want to ban kitchens for all.
— St. Michael, pray for us! (@StMichaelprayf1) July 26, 2026
You have nothing to do with journalism. You’re a propagandist.
— Catholic Frequency (@CatholicFQ) July 27, 2026
So the dinner celebrates free speech but want to rethink it because you don’t like what the President had to say?
— George Colli (@GeorgeColli) July 25, 2026
Sure, Peter. pic.twitter.com/ujKOYbPUkr
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 25, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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