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White House Correspondents' Dinner pokes fun at Trump in his absence

Xinhua, April 30, 2017 Adjust font size:

The annual White House Correspondents' Dinner took place here Saturday, with journalists and comedians poking fun at U.S. President Donald Trump, who had skipped the event.

"We are here to celebrate the press, not the presidency," White House Correspondents' Association president Jeff Mason said to a full house of journalists and celebrities in his opening speech.

"We are not fake news ... we are not the enemy of the American people," Mason said.

The remarks were seen as a response to Trump's past attacks on the U.S. media, in which he labeled multiple U.S. media as producing "fake news" and "the enemy of the American people."

Comedian Hasan Minhaj played a leading role in roasting the president, making fun of his habit of tweeting at three in the morning as well as his hobby of playing golf.

Minhaj also made an analogy between the media and minorities in society, as both suffer from discrimination.

Trump has announced that he will not be attending this year's dinner event earlier this year, after the relationship between the White House and the media soured as both sides traded accusations.

The White House Correspondents' Dinner, a tradition since 1921, is an annual event that usually features good-spirited humor between the president and correspondents covering the White House. Endi