After promoting a ‘Fake News Awards’ event for weeks, the White House now says the ceremony might not happen at all.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked Tuesday whether the tongue-in-cheek award presentations would happen Wednesday as President Donald Trump promised on January 7.
‘We’ll keep you posted on any details around that potential event,’ she replied, ‘and what that would look like.’
Trump has repeatedly touted the idea on his Twitter feed, but hasn’t provided any details.
President Donald Trump may not be awarding ‘Fake News’ trophies on Wednesday as promised
Earlier this month Trump announced he would be postponing the event until today
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders referred to the ‘Fake News Awards’ on Tuesday as a ‘potential event,’ meaning it might not happen at all
‘The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th,’ Trump Tweeted this month. ‘The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!’
Trump first announced January 2 that he would present awards for ‘THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR,’ saying in a tweet that the categories would include ‘Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media.’
‘Tonight Show’ host Jimmy Fallon mocked the idea on Tuesday night, appearing as Trump in a sketch that saw CNN as the only nominee for one award
‘Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert mocked the concept with a Times Square billboard openly lobbying for an award
At an earlier press briefing, Sanders was asked how many awards would be presented and whether the event would be televised.
‘I certainly don’t want to spoil anything,’ she said to laughs. ‘But my guess is that there are quite a few individuals that could be up for these awards. And beyond that, I think we’ll have to see what happens.’
She was also asked if reporters would be on hand when the awards were announced.
‘We’ll certainly keep you posted,’ she said. ‘It might be hard for him to present trophies if you guys aren’t there, but I don’t know.’
‘Tonight Show’ host Jimmy Fallon roasted the maybe-on-maybe-off award presentation on Tuesday night in a sketch that had CNN as the only nominee for ‘fakest cable news network.’
The award resembled an Oscar statuette but was topped with a bust of Trump’s head.
‘Like all my products, it’s covered in 100 per cent real fake gold and it was made in China,’ said Fallon, playing the role of Trump.
And ‘Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert’s program paid for a giant Times Square billboard that lobbied for him as a candidate in categories like ‘Fakest Dishonesty,’ ‘Dishonestest Corruption’ and ‘Smallest Button.’