Jim Acosta, the former CNN chief White House correspondent, offered a harsh criticism of President Donald Trump's appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, labeling the event a “monstrosity” and condemning the press for not leaving during the president’s speech in a Substack piece named “Democracy Dies in Cowardice Too.”The postponed White House Correspondents’ Association dinner took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., on Friday, July 24, 2026. The meeting acted as a smaller substitute for the initial April 25 occasion, which was interrupted when an armed individual got past security and fired shots outside the ballroom.The President participated in the replacement dinner and gave a speech that exceeded an hour, combining humor with criticisms of journalists, political adversaries, and famous personalities.Jim Acosta calls Donald Trump's WHCA dinner a "monstrosity"Jim Acosta, who first took to social media to criticize, then went on Substack to write, began his blog by emphasizing that he had purposefully avoided the event. He wrote:"For starters, no. I did not go. I would never attend a White House Correspondents Dinner headlined by Donald Trump."The former CNN anchor agreed that some journalists may have felt professionally forced to go, citing employer pressure, career reasons, and the dinner's long-standing role in promoting free speech. However, he stated that these considerations did not alter his perception of what happened:"What unfolded Friday night inside that gaudy, former Trump hotel ballroom was a monstrosity. And it warranted a stout response from the Washington press corps that sadly never came. As just about everybody around the world fully expected, Trump delivered an unhinged, hateful speech that was written for the sole purpose of celebrating his undemocratic assault on news outlets in America and settling scores with his political enemies."He claimed that the President's speech deserved a harsher response from the journalists in attendance, accusing the president of making an address intended to target the media and settle scores with political opponents:"He called people fat. He told racist and anti-gay jokes. He delighted in his oligarch friends taking over the networks. It was thoroughly disgraceful."During his speech, Donald Trump targeted several prominent personalities, including journalists Don Lemon, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Kaitlan Collins, politicians Chris Christie and Adam Schiff, as well as entertainers Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert.Acosta was especially dismissive of Trump's proposal that he pursue another term in office. Throughout the event, the president wore a red "Trump 2028" cap and joked about running again.Acosta called the comment "totally unfunny," claiming that the President's recent conduct made jokes about another presidential term improper:"Totally unfunny, given that he has already incited a deadly insurrection. It was coup-coup for Cocoa Puffs and the horror in the room was palpable. Which was exactly what Trump wanted. This was payback time for when Obama and the press laughed at him for his birtherism back in 2011. Payback for all the times he was fact-checked and investigated and called out for his extremism and insanity."He also stated that the speech was not intended to win over the audience through comedy, but rather to make journalists uncomfortable:"He soaked up the misery in the room like a balm on his blackened, broken soul. Hate is the only stimulant that keeps sir naps-a-lot awake these days."He added:"Yes, he bombed. And that was the point. He wasn’t trying to be funny. That would make people happy. Duh! That speech was nothing more than a heat-seeking missile aimed squarely at any joy that journalists take in their work. It was also a message. Things are about to get worse. Much, much worse."Acosta wanted journalists to walk outAcosta criticized not only Donald Trump, but also the journalists who remained seated throughout the address. He said that when Trump began insulting people in the room, reporters should have stood up and left, and that the lack of a walkout was a missed opportunity for the press to protect itself:"Just imagine if the reporters gathered in that room had gotten out of their seats and walked out on that maddening address to the nation. Millions of Americans would have been cheering in their living rooms."According to him, images of the audience showed journalists appearing uncomfortable yet remaining seated. He described witnessing the situation from home as "agonizing" and stated that the incident highlighted larger issues in the American news media:"Instead the wide shots and cutaways of the crowd on hand told a far more depressing story, revealing not just the stunned and tortured looks of some of the finest journalists in the world, who missed a golden opportunity to stand up for what is arguably our most precious right guaranteed under the Constitution. People sat in their seats, defeated and depressed. It was agonizing to watch from home. But it was also clarifying. The event itself was an indictment of our news media. Our system of delivering information to the American people is badly broken."Trump targets Kaitlan Collins as journalists raise press freedom concernsDonald Trump singled out CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who won a WHCA broadcast journalism award for her coverage of his February 2025 Oval Office confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. After shaking her hand on stage, Donald Trump later labeled her reporting "fake," said she "shouldn't get the award," and instructed her to "just smile, Kaitlan." "Just smile," prompting boos from several of the audience.Several of Donald Trump's jokes elicited muted replies, with the president even admitting that content failed to land. He did, however, defend his connection with the media, claiming that his many encounters with reporters indicated his willingness to engage with the press.Trump's appearance had already drawn criticism prior to the event. More than 500 journalists, including Jim Acosta and Ann Curry, signed a letter pushing the WHCA to openly address what they saw as the administration's intensifying attacks on press freedom.Acosta later claimed that WHCA leaders did not anticipate the President to accept his offer and suggested that the association should have cancelled the replacement dinner after the initial event was disrupted.Acosta concluded his blog with:"Our democracy is only as strong as those willing to defend it. That includes the press. When courage could have been summoned at the White House correspondents dinner, a dangerous complicity took its place. Yes, democracy dies in darkness, but also in cowardice."Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.