If you can't get the real president to attend your event, why not get the fake one?
>> Trump tweets he won't attend White House correspondents' dinner
That's what actor Zach Braff and "Saturday Night Live" fans are saying on Twitter after President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he won't be going to the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 29.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year," Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon. "Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
Minutes later, Braff called for actor Alec Baldwin, who plays Trump on "SNL," to stand in for the president.
".@AlecBaldwin time to suit up," he tweeted.
.@AlecBaldwin time to suit up. https://t.co/DfVnzAYxSG
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) February 25, 2017
Braff was not alone.
Email from a viewer: "PLEASE, please, have Alec Baldwin invited to the White House Correspondents dinner since Trump is not going..."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 25, 2017
Yuge opening for Alec Baldwin to get some extra work that evening... https://t.co/cQoERmmLf6
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) February 25, 2017
Oh pleeeeeez Alec Baldwin go as trump at Correspondents Dinner!!!!
— Diane Warren (@Diane_Warren) February 25, 2017
Hey @whca, since @realDonaldTrump has announced that he's not attending, it only makes sense that @AlecBaldwin deliver the keynote. #WHCA
— April (@ReignOfApril) February 25, 2017
No word yet on whether Baldwin is interested in attending the event, which raises money for college scholarships and usually involves roasts of both the current president and the media.
According to Poynter, the last time a president missed the dinner was 1981, when then-President Ronald Reagan was recovering from a gunshot wound. But Reagan still called in to the event, addressing guests by phone.