Kenan Thompson and Hasan Minhaj both performing at the White House Correspondents' Dinner seems like an attempt at balance

The Daily Beast

Thompson will serve as host of the April 25 event, while Patriot Act's Minhaj will be the "featured entertainer." But it's unlikely that President Trump will appear at the annual dinner, since he's never attended during his presidency, not even when historian Ron Chernow was the entertainment last year. "Thompson is by no means a conservative comic, but he does represent a broader, more crowd-pleasing brand of comedy," says Matt Wilstein. "He’s more along the lines of figures like former SNL writer Conan O’Brien or his current castmate Cecily Strong, who both hosted the dinner during the Obama years, than he is like The Daily Show descendants Stephen Colbert, who delivered the most scathing routine in the dinner’s history to George W. Bush’s face, or Wolf, who most assumed would be the last Correspondents’ Dinner host." But Wilstein thinks Thompson hosting increases the likelihood that Alec Baldwin will show up as President Trump. Wilstein expects Minhaj to "do the heaviest lifting on the political comedy front." ALSO: WHCD will have a new look -- TV screens in the background instead of yellow curtains -- with the help of veteran TV producer Bob Bain.