Trump Skips White House Correspondents Dinner, Recites ‘The Snake’ At Pennsylvania Rally

Last night Trump decided not to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner in an effort to demonstrate his hard stance on various news outlets attacking him throughout the election and after being sworn into office. Trump took major swings at CNN and MSNBC and called the news outlets, “fake news.” Trump spoke of the “failing New York Times,” and revealed his distaste for a few op-eds in The Washington Post.

Instead, Trump decided to hold a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to seemingly solidify his stance on illegal immigration in the United States by reciting, “The Snake.” Singer-songwriter and social activist Oscar Brown Jr. wrote the piece in 1963. Soul singer Al Wilson released a song using the verses in 1968. Trump dedicated the reading to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, as well as border patrol, and ICE agents, according to the Independent.

“Okay. So let’s dedicate this to General Kelly, the Border Patrol, and the ICE agents for doing such an incredible job. All right? This was written by Al Wilson, a long time ago. And I thought of it having to do with our borders and people coming in and we know what we’re going to have. We’re going to have problems. We have to very, very carefully vet. We have to be smart. We have to be vigilant. So here it is, ‘The Snake.’ It’s called, ‘The Snake.'”

Just two hours prior, the Washington Post published an op-ed by President Donald Trump on his time as President of the United States.

Trump spoke from behind a lectern as he relayed pity for the journalists who were back at the party.

“I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be one hundred miles away from Washington’s swamp… They’re trapped at the dinner… Which will be very, very boring.”

Trump began reading the lyrics to an expectant crowd, “On her way to work one morning, down the path along the lake, a tender-hearted woman saw a poor, half-frozen snake. His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew. ‘Poor thing,’ she cried, ‘I’ll take you in, and I’ll take care of you.”

Trump took a moment to explain the message in more relative terms and added, “The border.”

“Take me in oh, tender woman. Take me in, for heaven’s sake. Take me in, oh, tender woman, sighed the vicious snake. She wrapped him up all cozy in a comforter of silk and laid him by her fireside with some honey and some milk. She hurried home from work that night and as soon as she arrived, she found that pretty snake she’d taken in had been revived. Take me in, oh, tender woman. Take me in for heaven’s sake. Take me in oh, tender woman, sighed that vicious snake.”

On Monday it was reported by various news outlets that U.S. President Donald Trump indicated an openness to delaying his effort to secure funds for the U.S. border wall with Mexico, according to Reuters. Lawmakers had until Friday to pass at least an interim budget to avoid a government shutdown.

Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017

On Tuesday, President Trump insisted his stance on building a wall has not changed and that he is committed to his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border. Trump tweeted, “Don’t let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help top drugs, human trafficking, etc.,”

Throughout the evening, several speakers at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had much to say about Trump and his stance on the media.

Trump has become the first President in decades to skip out on the annual gathering between the White House and the reporters who cover the presidency. The White House Correspondent Association President, Jeff Mason, assured a ballroom of journalists who attended the Saturday night gathering that they were, in fact, legitimate journalists’.

“We cannot ignore the rhetoric that has been employed by the president about who we are and what we do… We are not fake news. We are not failing news organizations. And we are not the enemy of the American people.”

Former President Barack Obama and actor Seth Meyers cracked several jokes about Trump as he sat unamused at the 2011 White Correspondents’ Dinner.

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]