Comedian Matt Friend 'thanks' Donald Trump for watching White House Correspondents' dinner 'like a dog'

The former president apparently watched the TikTok star impersonate him at the annual Washington, D.C., event.

Comedian Matt Friend welcomes their hatred. After his impression of former President Donald Trump and joke about South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem killing her dog drew both laughs and groans at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, the comedian seized on Trump's public criticism.

"The White House Correspondents' Dinner was really bad," Trump posted on TruthSocial over the weekend. "Colin Jost BOMBED, and Crooked Joe was an absolute disaster! Doesn't get much worse than this."

Though he wasn't mentioned by name in the post, Friend (whose jokes at the correspondents' dinner preceded remarks by sitting President Joe Biden and the event's official host, Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost) screenshotted Trump's criticism on Instagram. He then added a reference both to his own Noem bit and to Trump's long history of comparing people to dogs.

"We're getting closer! Thanks for watching, LIKE A DOG!" Friend wrote on Instagram.

In Trump's personal lexicon, the ultimate insult is to compare someone to a dog. After his former The Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman was dismissed from her brief White House job in 2018, Trump gloated about his administration "firing that dog!" After ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by American military forces in 2019, Trump remarked that the terrorist "died like a dog."

So with this post, Friend is giving the former president a taste of his own medicine (and getting another ding in at Noem, who has been touted as a possible vice presidential pick for Trump's 2024 campaign but is now turning heads for admitting to killing her dog). It's a natural move for a comedian who has made a name with his skilled impressions of celebrities like Howard Stern, Jeff Goldblum, John Oliver, and now Trump himself.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Comedian Matt Friend draws gasps at White House Correspondents' dinner with joke about Kristi Noem killing her dog

• Watch John Oliver meet his TikTok impressionist: 'Honestly, it's not bloody bad'

• Jon Stewart weighs in on Donald Trump and Joe Biden presidential age debate: 'What the f--- are we doing?'

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.