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Amber Ruffin has said she feels “less welcome” in the United States due to President Trump’s actions in the first 100 days of his second term.
The 46-year-old comedian was disinvited from performing at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month following pressure from the Trump administration.
The day after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich posted a clip of Ruffin referring to members of the Trump administration as “murderers” and called her a “second rate comedian,” the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, Eugene Daniels, sent out a message to colleagues announcing that Ruffin would no longer be performing and that the comedy portion of the evening would be axed.
In a statement at the time, Daniels said: “At this consequential moment for journalism. I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
During an appearance Wednesday on The View, Ruffin revealed that she learned she was being removed from the slot in a phone call. “They were like: ‘Look, you were running your mouth in these streets,’” she explained. “And now you can’t host the White House Correspondents Dinner. I was like: ‘Oh no, I was running my mouth.’ I was being careless.
“As the day went on, people were like: ‘Your free speech has been revoked! How dare they?’ I was like: ‘Oh my God, that’s right! I do have free speech! I’m allowed free speech.”
Asked her opinion of the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term in office, Ruffin responded: “People are saying that Trump did a bad job a hundred days in. I strongly disagree. This man has done everything he has set out to do.
“I’m Black, I’m terrified. I’m scared for my trans friends. And people who we know and love, our neighbors, are disappeared. And that was the goal and he did it. He did it, he did exactly what he wanted to do — because I, you know, feel less welcome in my home than I did, you know, last year. And that’s the goal. That was the goal, this feeling in us is the point.”
Ruffin, who previously helmed a show on Peacock and is currently featured on CNN’s weekend program Have I Got News for You, is no stranger to The View. She has served as a guest host on the daytime talk show several times, which included one memorable appearance where she defended Trump’s sense of humor, claiming he is objectively “very hilarious.”
English (US) ·