Allana Harkin will be in Washington for Full Frontal’s special called Not The White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
On Saturday, the weekly news satire program, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, is hosting Not The White House Correspondents' Dinner, a special episode from Washington, on the same night as the actual White House Correspondents' Dinner. The Globe and Mail spoke with Canada's Allana Harkin, a correspondent and co-producer for the New York-based show, to get the scoop on the dinner and the dangers and joy of lampooning the U.S. Commander-in-Chief.
Is this a spoof, or a real dinner?
It's a big deal. It's a dinner, with special guests and a red carpet situation. Our event will raise money for the journalist's foundation [the Committee to Protect Journalists]. We had this on the books well before President [Donald] Trump decided not to participate in the other White House Correspondents' Dinner.
There's a theory that it was after he was ridiculed by President Barack Obama at the Correspondents' Dinner in 2011 that Trump decided to run for president himself. Is it possible his entire campaign and presidency is based on revenge?
It wouldn't surprise me at all. I mean, we're getting to Day 100 and it just feels like his only game plan is to overturn every sort of decision Obama made during his administration.
It does seem like Trump and his bunch are obsessed with Obama.
And Hillary. He might as well tweet out, "I'm massively insecure about Hillary Clinton, and I was burnt to the ground in 2011 at the White House Correspondents' Dinner."
I mean, the other day he tweeted something about Hillary getting debate questions in advance.
He actually tweeted that she received the answers in advance, which makes no sense.
Please tell me that you're not looking to him for logic. God help us. He's an '80s villain. He's textbook. You could not write this better.
And he's surrounded himself with quite a group who supports his vision, or who just enjoy the fact that he knows how to sign his name. Because that's really all they need.
I tell you, it's a very interesting time for a Canadian to come down here. [Laughs.]
You laugh, but it's a little scary, isn't it?
Oh, there's nothing humorous about it. With satire, we're really just peeling back the onion and we're finding what's deep down in there. Which is really satisfying.
We're able to do what a normal journalist can't do, which is to really poke a hole in it and make fun of it.
Making fun of Trump. But we've determined that that's what got us here in the first place.
Good point. We would trade it all in a heartbeat to not be in this situation, where the Muslim community is terrified and our gay community doesn't know what's happening. No one feels safe. No one feels protected. It's a little like a bad dream.
It's interesting to watch, the comedic response to that distress. What's the vibe like on the show?
Doing a show like this is very cathartic, I would say. We have a place to let go. We have a place to talk about it. I don't know if he knows our show exists. But we know he exists. And we will continue talking about him.
Do you have the sense that Trump has any sense of humour?
No. And it's funny that you bring that up. Way back in the beginning, when I attended his rallies for the show, that's what scared me the most. There was no lightness. There was no humour. If there was any sort of joke, it was at the expense of somebody. To hurt them.
I don't think he has any sense of humour at all, and that's actually a terrifying trait.
Not The White House Correspondents' Dinner airs April 29, at 10 p.m., on The Comedy Network.
This interview has been condensed and edited.