Nicolle Wallace Suggests Trump Will Take Her off Air If He Wins in November: ‘I Might Not Be Sitting Here’

Wallace: “It’s one of the nicer traditions about Washington. For a night, at least, the president of the United States dines and then tries to entertain assembled members of the free press. The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner is one of the symptoms, one of the signs of a healthy, functioning democracy, a one-night-only hiatus from the normal in Washington, an opportunity to suspend those more formal aspects of the relationship between a president and the news media. It’s a coming together and, at its core, the president doing everything right celebrates and honors the free press. Behind the levity, though, there was something darker, a darker undercurrent, if you will, and a point that the president had to make. And it was more profoundly serious. Because at this exact time next year, depending what happens in November, seven months from now, we can’t say for certain that there would even be a White House Correspondents’ Dinner or even a free press or even a White House press corps. Right? You don’t have to have one. Could be another norm Trump blows up. The stakes of the 2024 election were a living, breathing subplot of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. It came up in the jokes, came up in the inherent contrast between President Joe Biden, there in the room, and the coup-plotting, openly autocratic modeling of himself, Donald Trump, who wants to replace him. The ever-hilarious superstar Colin Jost of ‘Weekend Update’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’ finished his remarks on a serious note as well. He told a story about why his grandfather, outside President Joe Biden’s demographics, voted for Biden.”

[Clip starts]
JOST: “My grandfather, a Staten Island firefighter, voted for you, Mr. President.
(Applause)
He voted for you in the last election that he ever voted in. I mean, I’m sure someone else will vote twice in this election using his name, but that’s just how the democratic machine works.
(Laughter)
He voted for you, and the reason that he voted for you is because you’re a decent man.”
[Clip ends]

Wallace: “Decency. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, finished his remarks on a serious note as well. Watch.”

[Clip starts] Clip startsg
Biden: “The defeated former president has made no secret of his attack on our democracy. He said he wants to be a dictator on day one and so much more. He tells supporters he is their revenge and retribution. When in God’s name have you ever heard another president say something like that? And he promised a bloodbath when he loses again. We have to take this seriously. Eight years ago, we could have written it off as just Trump talk. But no longer. Not after January 6th. So tonight, I’d like to make a toast. To a free press. To an informed citizenry. To an America where freedom and democracy endure. God bless America.”
[Clip ends]

Wallace: “I’ve seen that toast a bunch of times, but it landed very differently this yea, because depending on what happens in November, seven months from right now, this time next year I might not be sitting here. There might not be a White House Correspondents’ Dinner or a free press. And while our democracy won’t exactly fall apart immediately without it, the real threat looms larger. A candidate with outward disdain not just for a free pres, but for all of our freedoms and for the rule of law itself.”