The Associated Press did not feel like celebrating on Saturday night at the "Nerdprom." This is the opening of Will Riccardi's report, which ABC News published and highlighted in a tweet. "Somber" was the adjective:
There was no president. There was no comedian. What remained at the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner on Saturday night were the journalists and the First Amendment.
The stripped-down festivities were a reflection of the somber tone in Washington at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, in which he has battled with the press on multiple fronts and wrested from the correspondents' association the power to decide which outlets have the most access to Trump.
They claim to celebrate the First Amendment when they're boasting about themselves. When AP White House reporters Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller won an award at the dinner, Miller's speech sounded like a commercial for AP.
"At the AP’s core is a commitment to accurate, independent, nonpartisan journalism that unflinchingly holds power to account no matter which political party is in office," Miller claimed. "It safeguards the facts that keep the citizenry well-informed."
Then it got really syrupy: "Mark Twain said it: 'There are only two forces that carry light to all corners of the globe. The sun in the heavens and the Associated Press down here.' From the White House to the town of Whitehouse, Texas -- it's a real place -- Peoria to the Persian Gulf, we at AP remain committed as ever to accurate, independent, nonpartisan journalism, to carrying light the world over.”
🚨AP’s Zeke Miller at WHCA: "We at AP remain committed as ever to accurate, independent, nonpartisan journalism."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 27, 2025
What a strange way to describe leftwing propaganda. pic.twitter.com/TBGH0dMSLV
Our Managing Editor Curtis Houck keeps tabs on Zeke Miller. Along with his 2017 fake report for Time magazine claiming a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office, Miller beclowned himself in the first Biden administration briefing and press conference in 2021. He offered a deferential question to Biden:
MILLER: One of the defining challenges you face in the coming months is how to deliver on your promise to Americans on issues like immigration control, gun control, voting rights, climate change. All of those right now are facing stiff, united opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill. How far are you willing to go to achieve those promises that you made to the American people?
In that spirit, Miller provided another embarrassing entry in 2022 with a 1,400-word press release for Biden: “One hug and one selfie at a time, Biden’s mission to connect.” He began:
WASHINGTON (AP) — One handshake, one hug and one selfie at a time. If President Joe Biden could greet every American this way, longtime allies say, his approval ratings would soar.
Curtis also reported when AP reporter Josh Boak was granted a rare print interview with President Biden in 2022, and he began with this: “I’m really interested in how you’re thinking and how you’re making choices during what seems like a really unique time in American history.” He ended his second question with "How do you as a president provide a sense of stability and strength?” On China, he softly asked: "Do you think Americans have that sense of the stakes on a daily basis?"
It didn't sound like Miller's claim that AP "unflinchingly holds power to account," no matter which party.
PS: "Western Lensman" followed up his Miller speech tweet with this beaut, in which the criminal migrant was described as an "Athens resident."
AP’s “nonpartisan journalism” describing the m*rder of Laken Riley: pic.twitter.com/E6BCF503EE
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 27, 2025
