Saturday Night Live star, Kenan Thompson, will host this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25th, alongside Hasan Minhaj, who will act as the evening’s featured entertainer.
Jonathan Karl, chief White House correspondent for ABC News and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, confirmed the news.
“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America,” he said. ”I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy. We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year.”
The actor and comedian, who began his career with Nickelodeon’s sketch series, All That, in the 90s, will lead the celebratory evening as the WHCA presents its two new awards at the 2020 dinner: the Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage by Visual Journalists and the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability. The new awards will be presented along with the Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and Merriman Smith Award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure. Minhaj, who is the current host of Netflix’s Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj, will serve as comedic relief for the evening.
Despite popular belief, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is not solely about the president, but more of a nonpartisan event that looks to highlight and support the work of the WHCA “to protect the role of independent news media coverage of the president.”
There is no word yet on whether or not Trump will be attending this year’s dinner. Given that he has not attended three years in a row, an appearance is unlikely.
