If there are two groups that Donald Trump has consistently waged war on since announcing his candidacy for president, they are people of color and the press. Add women to the mix, and you end up with a politician who has disdain for the majority of the American people. Unsurprisingly, he has taken these wars with him to the White House and routinely invokes them to stir up his base. We’ve seen him lash out a different times at all of these groups—black athletes, Puerto Rican mayors, female Democratic leaders who publicly call him out, newspapers and networks that don’t suck up to him. This list goes on and on. And then there are the instances when all three of these wars can be condensed neatly into one target.
This is most certainly the case with veteran White House reporter April Ryan. Who knows exactly when Trump and company began their petty one-sided feud with Ryan. From asking Ryan if she could arrange a meeting with him and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders routinely coming for Ryan in the daily press briefings, there is a pattern of animosity toward Ryan that can only be explained by this administration’s hatred of women, people of color and the press. This week, they continued on in their attempts to punish Ryan, by not inviting her to the White House holiday party.
April Ryan, the black woman the White House loves to hate on, will not be going to the scary White House white-walking winter wonder-klan for its annual Christmas party—for the first time in 20 years.
The NAACP tweeted the news Wednesday morning, saying that Ryan was not invited.
This isn’t exactly a bad thing for Ryan—except for the message that it sends. Nothing could possibly be worse than being forced to socialize with Trump and his ghastly crew of associates under the guise of holiday cheer. But it is insulting to a woman who has covered the White House during the tenure of four different presidents.
Ryan isn’t the only journalist uninvited to the White House holiday party or trying to decide whether or not to go. CNN, Trump’s favorite network to call out for “fake news”, has decided to boycott the event altogether and other reporters and outlets have mixed feelings.
Several reporters who had been invited to the reception in the past told POLITICO that they had been excluded this year, raising questions about how the White House made its list and whether it was playing favorites and adding to the sense that the event has become fraught with politics. [...]
Another White House reporter, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that he would attend, despite his concerns over the administration’s posture toward the press. [...]
Olivia Nuzzi of New York magazine took a harder line. She said she was not invited but that if she had been, she would not attend.
Can you blame them? Trump has not only demeaned an entire profession and attempted to silence any critiques against him, his attacks on the press are an abomination of the very ideals of America. And the world is watching. Here’s an example of the grace and maturity demonstrated by the administration when they found out that their favorite network was declining their invite to the holiday party.
CNN, April Ryan, the New York Times and any other outlet with good sense should probably all boycott this event and throw their own anti-Trump holiday shindig. They could open up the event and sell tickets to the public. They’d make a fortune. And have a much better time to boot. The best part: Trump’s sad orange face when no one but Fox News shows up. Now that would be a Trump event worth covering!