Fox Hosts Marvel at Trump’s Reaction To WHCD Roast That Kicked Off Political Career: ‘Look at His Face’

The hosts of Fox & Friends Weekend pulled up a throwback clip of President Donald Trump on Saturday, marveling at the pre-president’s reaction to a famous roasting he received during the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Trump is set to make an appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner again on Saturday evening, and Fox hosts Rachel Campos-Duffy used the occasion to show Trump’s 2011 appearance when he was still the host of Celebrity Apprentice and only flirting with the idea of running for president.

Campos-Duffy argued, as many others have, that jokes made at Trump’s expense by then-President Barack Obama kicked Trump’s political ambitions into high gear.

“Obama thought he could mock him,” Campos-Duffy said. “And when he did this is what happened, and I think this was the deciding moment President Trump was like, ‘you did this to me, I’m running to show you.'”

During the dinner, Obama made multiple jokes targeting Trump, including one about “changes” he would potentially bring to the White House, showing a neon sign for the White House in the fashion of a Las Vegas casino.

Trump has denied the Obama digs being specifically what made him want to run for president, insisting last month that he had a “good time” at the event.

“I was saying to [my wife], I said ‘You know, I love this, I am having a good time,’ because every joke was about me and I sort of liked– I can handle that stuff,” he told Fox News.

Griff Jenkins recalled attending the 2011 event and feeling the energy change in the room as conversations became more about the reality of Trump’s chances of actually making it to the White House, should he choose to run.

“I was at that dinner that year and I can tell you the conversation at our table and every other table in that room — because no one had really thought about it — became, you know what, if he runs actually might win,” he said.

“I’m so focused on his face, look at his face during this, he’s like, alright, you got the microphone now, just wait,” Campos-Duffy said as she continued watching Trump.

“Trump was already famous enough that he was part of the culture,” Charlie Hurt added. “That joke would not have worked — not that it did work all that well — but that joke wouldn’t have even been attempted except Trump was already a fixture in culture and that’s what made him so effective and has made him so effective at politics.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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