Late-night hosts on Monday reacted to the backlash to Michelle Wolf’s monologue at the White House correspondent’s dinner, putting forth a fervent defense of her routine.
Stephen Colbert
“Most nights I come out here and make jokes about the news from Washington,” Stephen Colbert began. “Tonight, the news from Washington is about jokes: who can tell them and who can take them?
“Telling them at Saturday night’s White House correspondent’s dinner circle of jerks was comedian Michelle Wolf,” the host continued. “She did not pull any punches and some people were offended by what she had to say, presumably the people who have been in a coma for the past two and a half-years.”
Colbert noted that, at an event “roasting the administration and the media”, it was those two groups that took the most offense. A report about the dinner in Axios said Wolf used a “vulgarity that begins with ‘p’”, a word Donald Trump himself has used before.
“The thing that people are pretending to be most upset about is what Michelle Wolf said about Sarah Hucka-Sanders,” Colbert explained, referring to Wolf’s line about how the press secretary “burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye”.
Colbert then noted that WHCA president Margaret Talev issued a statement after the dinner claiming Wolf’s monologue “was not in the spirit” of the dinner’s mission to offer a “unifying message”.
“You didn’t like it? You have that right. Don’t invite her back again,” Colbert said. “But grow a pair. This was a roast, and you’re the ones who hired Michelle Wolf. Being mad at her for doing her job is like accusing the valet of briefly stealing your car.”
Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah, whose show Wolf was recently a writer and contributor for, also weighed in.
“We have a lot of laughs here at the Daily Show, but comedy isn’t just about jokes,” Noah said. “It’s also about being polite and respecting authority. Unfortunately, it seems like some comedians, like Michelle Wolf, don’t understand that.”
Noah then showed news clips of various pundits outraged over Wolf’s routine, calling it “over the line”, a “disgrace” and “filth”.
“Michelle should have had the decency not to comment on women’s appearances in any way, shape or form,” Noah said sarcastically. “She’s a comedian, for God’s sake, not the president.”
"Trump's people get it. Joking is no excuse if a comedian is insulting the president. It's only an excuse when the insults are coming from the president."
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 1, 2018
Trevor reacts to the backlash against Michelle Wolf: pic.twitter.com/ECrWHdS457
The host then aired footage of Trump commenting on women’s appearances, including that of his former GOP primary opponent Carly Fiorina, Alicia Machado, his alleged assault victims and Rosie O’Donnell, who he called fat and ugly.
“You see, now that’s how you insult a woman’s face,” Noah quipped. “Michelle’s joke was about how Sarah Sanders makes makeup out of lies. When Trump’s insulting women he just says ‘fat, ugly face’. None of that smart comedy with layers of meaning.”
Seth Meyers
Finally, Seth Meyers, another former colleague of Wolf’s, offered his own defense of her scathing standup.
“Saturday night was the White House correspondent’s dinner in Washington DC,” he began. “I hosted it before, in 2011. This morning Donald Trump had this to say on Twitter.”
Meyers then read aloud Trump’s response to Wolf’s set, which he called “an embarrassment to everyone associated with it”. He also called Meyer’s 2011 monologue a “weak performance”.
“Oh, good. It’s always nice when the Eye of Sauron is upon you,” Meyers joked. “First of all, thank you for bringing it up. It is one of the best nights of my life and I would personally bring it up all the time but it would look tacky.”
Meyers then moved on to discuss Wolf, a former writer on his show. “She is filthy, she is mean,” he said, “which is what we love about her, because those are wonderful qualities for comedians and terrible qualities for Free World Leaders.”
Meyers went on: “Trump was going to be upset with Michelle no matter what, but at least the press knew what they were getting, right? When they announced Michelle, Margaret Talev, president of the White House correspondent’s dinner, said in a statement that her ‘truth-to-power style make her a great friend to the WHCA’.”
The host explained that, after the backlash to Wolf’s performance grew, Talev struck a far different tone when she denounced Wolf’s set in a letter to attendees.
“Here’s the good news: Michelle Wolf has a new show premiering on Netflix May 27,” Meyers said. “Based on what happened Saturday, you can be sure that it will be great because she isn’t going to waste any time trying to decide when it is or isn’t proper to make fun of people in power who lie to us on a daily basis.”
