The 2020 White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl said on Tuesday.
“After consultation with medical experts, government authorities and our own members, we’ve concluded that it is just not possible to put on the kind of dinner that promotes the best in journalism and allows our guests to comfortably and safely enjoy themselves,” Karl said in a note to WHCA members.
In the meantime, Karl said that the WHCA is working on creating a “virtual presentation that would allow us to salute award-winning journalism, toast an impressive group of scholarship winners, and still enjoy a few laughs.”
In April, the WHCA had originally rescheduled the dinner to Aug. 29, due to the pandemic, with Kenan Thompson as host and Hasan Minhaj as the featured entertainer.
Unfortunately, we must cancel the 2020 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
We still hope to have a virtual event later this summer. But an in-person dinner simply is not possible.
Here is my note to @whca members pic.twitter.com/WwlNksM3Lz
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) June 23, 2020