The second-weirdest White House correspondents’ dinner I’ve ever attended

narrative framing: The phrase 'attempted to assassinate the president' frames the event as a confirmed assassination attempt without noting it is an allegation or under investigation.

“a gunman had attempted to assassinate the president”

loaded adjectives: Adjectives like 'crass,' 'surreal,' and 'deeply cringeworthy' carry strong negative emotional connotations and frame the event judgmentally.

“crass and surreal and deeply cringeworthy”

loaded verbs: 'And boy, did he ever' is a colloquial intensifier that editorializes the president’s speech as excessive and performative.

“And boy, did he ever”

outrage appeal: Describing the speech as full of 'flat-out insults' primes the reader to view it as offensive rather than merely controversial or critical.

“flat-out insults”

loaded labels: Labeling jokes as 'sex jokes' and 'fat jokes' frames them as inappropriate without allowing the reader to judge context or intent.

“He told a sex joke and several fat jokes”

loaded labels: Quoting the nickname 'Watermelon head' without context frames it as a derogatory slur.

““Watermelon head.””

loaded adjectives: Describing the tangents as 'long' and the repetition of lines as 'often-repeated' implies tediousness and lack of originality.

“went on long tangents”

outrage appeal: Highlighting that the president told Kaitlan Collins she didn’t deserve her award and then commented on her appearance frames it as a personal attack to provoke reader disapproval.

“she didn’t deserve the award she had won that night, before calling her a “young, attractive woman” who “never smiles.””

framing by emphasis: Noting the president gazing at the chandeliers 'in admiration' implies vanity or self-congratulation without confirming his emotional state.

“the president could be seen gazing at the chandeliers in admiration”

selective coverage: Focusing on administration officials as the only ones laughing frames the audience reaction negatively, omitting neutral or mixed responses.

“theirs was the only area of the room that reliably laughed”

outrage appeal: Using 'Crickets' and 'palpable cringes' dramatizes the audience's discomfort to evoke reader disapproval of the president.

“Crickets. There were more than a few palpable cringes”

framing by emphasis: Highlighting that journalists 'remained seated and did not applaud' emphasizes rejection without noting any applause or mixed reactions.

“many journalists remained seated and did not applaud”

loaded labels: Labeling journalists and politicians as 'a bunch of dorks' is dismissive and undermines the event’s seriousness.

“a bunch of dorks”

editorializing: Describing the video recap as 'rather unnecessary' is a value judgment that frames it as gratuitous.

“a rather unnecessary video recap”

decontextualised statistics: Including surveillance footage of the shooter without context risks sensationalizing the violence.

“surveillance video of the shooter”

sympathy appeal: Starting with 'Poor Pearlman' evokes pity and frames him as a victim of the president’s behavior.

“Poor Pearlman.”

framing by emphasis: Focusing on people leaving during Pearlman’s act frames it as a failure without noting any positive audience engagement.

“I saw several people get up and leave as he took to the stage”

framing by emphasis: Describing the joke as 'a good one' and 'one of the only lines' that mocked his administration frames the rest of the speech as uniformly negative or self-aggrandizing.

“was a good one, and one of the only lines that poked fun at his own administration”

loaded labels: Referring to Epstein as a 'convicted sex offender' is accurate but used here to heighten the emotional weight of the moment and frame the reporting as morally significant.

“convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein”

sensationalism: Describing 'tension in the room' and posing dramatic questions about handshakes builds suspense around a routine event.

“there was tension in the room: What would the president do when these reporters came up on the dais?”

loaded verbs: Describing the shrug as 'exaggerated' implies insincerity or mockery without confirming intent.

“he gave an exaggerated shrug”

editorializing: The rhetorical question 'What did anyone expect?' dismisses alternative interpretations and assumes the president’s behavior was predictable and malicious.

“What did anyone expect?”

editorializing: 'Of course the president wouldn’t be able to resist' frames the president as compulsively hostile, editorializing his motives.

“Of course the president wouldn’t be able to resist”

editorializing: The speculative 'one wonders' introduces an authorial judgment about the president’s future behavior.

“Though one wonders if the tough crowd might change his mind.”