Actor, comedian and left-leaning Kathy Griffin got on Twitter Sunday afternoon to defend fellow comedian after Michelle Wolf roasted and smashed a bulk of the low-hanging fruit from the Trump administration tree during the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night. Wolf was then roasted herself, and the arrows came flying from everywhere. She knew the risks. Wolf knew that being frightfully honest, not only about Trump and his administration, but also about the America press, could damage/ruin her career but she stood in all her truth and glory—and she dove the fuck in—for the entire world to witness.
Kathy Griffin has been there, after diving into those same waters. Last year, Griffin published a photo of herself with what looked like the severed head of Donald Trump. She took a horrendous beating from the Left as well as the Right and ultimately apologized for “going too far.” But did she...go too far? This time, Griffin does not back down and calls BULLSHIT on the blatant hypocrisy and double standards of Republicans, Democrats and the American media.
Here are Kathry Griffin’s tweets from A thru T of her Twitter thread (that finishes at Z).
(B thru T)
B) First, @michelleisawolf took no prisoners last night. She roasted Trump, Pence, White House staffers, the media, media personalities. Everyone is focused on Sanders but that was only 1 1/2 minutes of Michelle's act. She went after everyone...as it should be.
C) @michelleisawolf was hired to do a roast. That was her job. She wasn't hired to offer media analysis or be fair and balanced. She was hired to poke fun at powerful people. Not once did she punch down. She focused on the people/institutions that are powerful beyond measure
D) A comic's job is to go over the line and then push the line and go over it again. Great comics aren't supposed to be safe or careful. That would mean we're not doing our job. By pushing the line we force people to think differently, to ask questions, and disrupt the status quo.
E) Comics by their nature are anti-establishment. They are charged with the often unenviable task of going after people in power. It's a lot easier to tell jokes about the difference between LA and NYC or cats and dogs.
F) Enough with holding everyone else but the President of the United States and his staff to higher standards. This does not mean i don't recognize that investigative journalists at the NYT and WAPO etc are doing their part to expose this administration..what I'm concerned about.
G) Is that journalists often say they can't use certain language about Trump because they have to be objective. Fine. But they're willing to use words like "mean" about a comic's act? How is it objective to offer subjective commentary about a comic's joke's about POTUS?
H) Trump chooses not to attend the #WHCD - instead the White House said Sarah Sanders was attending in his place. She sat on the dais where the President usually sits. So of course she was going to get some of the toughest jokes, she was Trump's proxy.
I) The calls for the @whca and @michelleisawolf to apologize are absurd. They're coming from reporters and many Trumpers. Trump has famously (and he says this himself) never truly apologized because he thinks it makes him look weak.
J) And no the apology for the Access Hollywood tape doesn't count because now Trump goes around telling people he doesn't think the voice is his per NYT. So cut the bullshit.
K) Andrea, it was nice to meet you last night and I respect your work as a journalist, but when's the last time you demanded Trump or WH staffers apologize for their horrific statements? When's the last time you demanded Trump apologize for being a birther?
Some of the responses directed at Mitchell for her tweet were scathing, merciless and at minimum—a big fat wake up call letting Mitchell know that she is not above being roasted herself.
Griffin continues.
L) By the way for the @Scaramucci @dmartosko's [comments] please tell me why anyone should apologize when Trump hnever apologized for lying for years about Obama's birthplace and then again at a press conference took no responsibility for it and lied again.
M) I'll tell you what has the media so upset, because @michelleisawolf told the truth about them last night and the role they played in allowing Trump's rise. They hate to be called out on their bullshit, it's painful..I get it. But she said what needed to be said.
N) So journalists are willing to demand that a comic hired to roast people apologize but they aren't willing to demand that Trump or his staff apologize to people? Is that where we're at now? Can someone explain the difference to me?
O) This administration (and the reporters who intentionally or indirectly support it) are always demanding that artists apologize. From the Hamilton Cast to me to @michelleisawolf. But they never apologize for anything.
P) Also @michelleisawolf never talked about Sanders' appearance, she was talking about her character. But anyone pearl clutching over her comments and demanding she apologize needs to demand that Trump apologize for calling women fat pigs, slobs, talking about their bodies
Q) Not to mention, apologize for comments like "blood coming out of her..." - but no they haven't demanded that of him because they're terrified of Trump. Instead, they go after a comic who is paid to make jokes. They go after her instead of a man with real power. Pathetic.
R) BS @dmartosko. Sarah was there on the dais as a proxy for the President. That’s how the White House billed It. Michelle couldn’t just focus on just Trump because he was too scared to show up. twitter.com/dmartosko/stat…
S) Stop acting like @michelleisawolf showed up at the playground and started making fun of Sarah Sanders in front of her children. Sarah was there representing Trump, on the dais, at an event with a professional comic who was hired to do a roast.
T) This is such bullshit! @michelleisawolf told some jokes and you condemn her? You are a bunch of enablers. twitter.com/whca/status/99…
Cheers to Kathy Griffin, Michelle Wolf and to all the comedians/talk show hosts/political pundits who have the guts to say what often needs to be said—because no one else will. You can see the reaction to each tweet in Kathy Griffin’s thread by visiting her Twitter page. Sometimes, some jokes might go “too far.” But to test those waters in front of the most prominent media, while knowing they can literally rip your world apart—well, that takes the kind of courage much of the press just doesn’t possess.
Related:
To see the video and transcript of Michelle Wolf’s WHCD monologue, you can find it here:
Rob Reiner lights up Twitterwith dead-on tweet about Michelle Wolf, Trump and the WHCD
One last note about Michelle Wolf’s reference to ‘Aunt Lydia’ when talking about press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Saturday night: ‘Aunt Lydia’ is a sadistic, misogynistic, religious extremist character in the award-winning Hulu series, ‘The Handmaiden’s Tale’. Wolf comparing Sanders to Aunt Lydia was not about looks. It was about comparing Sanders to someone who sold her soul to support a world where men ruthlessly and murderously dominate and control all women—and their bodies.