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Some politicos and members of the media were quick to share their displeasure with comedian Michelle Wolf after Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner, where her blistering jokes eviscerated the Trump administration and the media in Washington.
A former correspondent on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" who has a forthcoming late-night show on Netflix, Wolf pulled no punches as she compared Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to a ruthless figure in the dystopian show "The Handmaid's Tale." She added that Sanders "burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye," referring to her makeup.
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New York Times White House Correspondent Maggie Haberman, who was honored at the dinner, criticized the jokes Wolf made on Twitter, particularly those aimed at Huckabee.
Wolf was quick to respond, pointing out that none of her jokes were aimed at Huckabee's appearance.
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the dinner "a disgrace" on Twitter, which Wolf responded to with a "Thank you!"
Another of Wolf's jokes that earned the ire of those in attendance focused on Vice President Mike Pence and his opposition to abortion.
"He thinks abortion is murder," Wolf said. "Which, first of all, don't knock it until you try it. And when you do try it, really knock it, you know, you gotta get that baby out of there. You can groan all you want, I know a lot of you are very anti-abortion, you know, unless it’s the one you got for your secret mistress. It’s fun how values can waver.”
Matt Schlapp, the head of Conservative Political Action Conference, and his wife Mercedes Schlapp, a Trump administration official, both said they walked out of the White House Correspondent's dinner. He said they were particularly incensed by the abortion joke.
"Enough of elites mocking all of us," Matt Schlapp said on Twitter.
During the 20 minutes that Wolf spoke, she touched on a number of issues including the media, Democrats, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and the financial crisis.
The backlash to her act is reminiscent of what comedian Stephen Colbert received after he performed at the dinner in 2006 and never broke out of his then-Comedy Central "The Colbert Report" character — a parody of the Bush administration and cable news pundits.
The audience at that dinner are remembered for not providing much laughter or grumbling in response to Colbert's jokes.
"I stand by this man," Colbert said about President George W. Bush at the time. "I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
Comedy Central received nearly 2,000 email messages — with mixed responses — on the Monday following the dinner, all reacting to Colbert's performance. But, according to the New York Post in 2006, Colbert received a large response from viewers with a 37 percent increase in his audience the week after his appearance at the event.
A day after his performance, Colbert appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes" on which he said that he rarely allows his kids to see him in character.
"Kids can't understand irony or sarcasm, and I don't want them to perceive me as insincere," Colbert explained. "Because one night, I'll be putting them to bed and I'll say ... 'I love you, honey.' And they'll say, 'I get it. Very dry, Dad. That's good stuff.'"
A dozen years later, however, reactions to the most recent comic to appear at the White House Correspondents' Dinner remain ambivalent.
As Wolf said at the beginning of her performance, "Just a reminder to everyone: I'm here to make jokes. I have no agenda. I'm not trying to get anything accomplished. So everyone who is here from Congress, you should feel right at home."
NBC News news analyst Howard Fineman disagreed with the criticism of Wolf. He pointed out on Twitter that Wolf's "blunt, crude, pitiless" act "torched EVERYONE," including Democrats, Stormy Daniels and the media. He added that Wolf was invited by the White House Correspondents' Association and didn't aim to be popular with all viewers.
"It's not her job to behave," he said, noting that she likely hoped to promote her Netflix show.
Others were also unconvinced by the backlash that occurred on social media after the event.
Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani responded to Haberman's initial tweet. "They call you liars," he said, referring to the Trump administration's belittling of some journalists. "They call Muslims murderers. They support white supremacists. But someone calls them out on what they do, [and] suddenly they're heroes for not walking out." He appeared to be referring to the plaudits Sanders received for sitting through the jokes directed at her.
The actor said Haberman unfollowed the comedian on Twitter when he pushed her to explain her criticism.
Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama and co-host of "Pod Save America" highlighted that Wolf closed her performance by attempting to point out the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan — which has been ongoing for more than four years. Those remarks, he noted, were totally ignored.
Though President Donald Trump skipped the event for the second year in a row to attend a rally in Washington, Michigan, he also weighed in on Twitter.