“You Are The Dregs Of A Free Society”: Allison Janney As C. J. Cregg Slams Fake News Outlets
"We have to let you exist, but we do not have to listen to you."
Held over the weekend in Washington DC, Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was billed as a tribute to the free press. And what better way to celebrate the important work of the fourth estate than by wheeling out the most beloved White House Press Secretary in living memory: Allison Janney’s C. J. Cregg.
Reprising her iconic role from The West Wing, Janney opened the TV special by fronting a room full of “journalists” from such esteemed media outlets as Russia Today, wakeupsheeplenewsbiz.com and Breitbart. “Samantha Bee is still preparing her remarks,” she explained. “I’m told they will be shrill and laced with vulgarities.”
After fielding a series of increasingly idiotic questions (“doesn’t having a female host for this dinner demonstrate a clear anti-white male bias?”) Janney unleashed an almighty spray against the purveyors of fake news.
“If a morally bankrupt gang of racist bloggers, anarchists, dominionist radio hosts and rancid women haters want to call themselves journalists, no one can stop you. But you are part of the reason that no one trusts the real press,” she said. “You are the dregs of a free society. We have to let you exist, but we do not have to listen to you.”
It was very satisfying. Especially when you compare it to the work of the actual White House Press Secretary.