MSNBC host Nicole Wallace expressed concerns about press freedom if Donald Trump were to win the 2024 presidential election.
In reflecting on the recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Wallace said the annual event celebrating the free press may not happen in 2023 depending on the election outcome, and questioned whether there would still be a free press or White House press corps under another Trump administration.
“The president of the United States dines and then tries to entertain assembled members of the free press,” Wallace said. “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 and an opportunity to suspend those more formal aspects of the relationship between a president and the news media. It’s coming together.”
“At its core, the president doing everything right celebrates and honors the free press,” she added.
“Behind the levity, though, there was something darker, a darker undercurrent, if you will, and a point that the president had to make. 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?”
Wallace argued Trump has a history of flouting norms and could target the press. She contrasted Biden’s presence at the dinner with Trump openly modeling autocratic behavior.
“You don’t have to have one, could be another norm Trump blows up. The stakes of the 2024 election are 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,” Wallace said.
“Because depending what happens in November, seven months from right now, this time next year I might not be sitting here. There might not there might not be a White House correspondents’ dinner or free press,” she said.
Recent polls show Trump leading Biden in hypothetical 2024 matchups, though some included additional candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
