Amber Ruffin revealed the one bit of advice she’s received from other comedians that she will “probably” ignore when she comes to emcee the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 26.
Former featured entertainers at the black-tie event (who Ruffin knows) had advised her that “you have to make fun of everybody, you can’t just make fun of the people you disagree with, you have to spread it out evenly,” the comedian and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” writer told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.
But she added: “I am not going to do that. Maybe I’ll do it a little bit, but probably not.”
Ruffin is a “perfect fit for the dinner this year,” said WHCA President Eugene Daniels, of Politico, who announced her gig on Tuesday. “She has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day,” Daniels added.
Tapper asked Ruffin ― who is no stranger to calling out and ridiculing Trump and his GOP allies ― exactly how she intended to walk that line.
“I think I’m going to do it the same way I always do it by just telling the truth about how I feel,” she said. It’s “OK to say” what’s making us feel sad at the moment “and I think when you do that, and people feel the same way as you, they think that it is fun and funny and it feels good to hear and that’s kind of where I operate from,” she explained.
Donald Trump eschewed presidential tradition and did not attend the dinner during his first term. Last year, the then-GOP candidate fumed that host Colin Jost “BOMBED” and that then-President Joe Biden “was an absolute disaster.” Biden called Trump “a 6-year-old” in his speech.
Tapper asked Ruffin of Trump, “Do you want him to be there this year?”
“No,” she replied. “No one wants that. I mean, sure, it’s something to do. Look, I can’t imagine he would. I can’t imagine he would. He should. He’s missing out on one of the cool things about being the president of the United States. But I don’t know that anyone’s looking forward to being in the same room as him.”
Tapper also recalled the 2011 dinner when Trump (who was in attendance) was mocked “viciously” by then-President Barack Obama and Meyers, who was the emcee.
The pair ribbed Trump into “running for president, some might say,” said Tapper. “It’s the Trump origin story. Does that give you any pause when it comes to choosing your targets this year?”
“Yeah, I’m a writer on ‘Late Night.’ Seth Meyers is a friend of mine. He got us into this mess. It’s his fault. When you’re looking for someone to blame. Blame my boss,” Ruffin joked.
“But no, he did what he had to do. It cannot be your job to razz people and then this man comes along and is like, ‘I’m going to be president,’” she added. “You have to laugh and I mean, ultimately, joke’s on us, isn’t it?”
Watch the full interview here: