Ron DeSantis Says Implying He Attended the WHCD — Where Trevor Noah Ribbed Him — 'Is a Lie'

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At the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday, host Trevor Noah had guests laughing at his jokes about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, telling the audience at one point, "One of my favorites, Ron DeSantis, is here."

But DeSantis, 43, wasn't there — and said Monday he never planned to appear at the event.

"I would never attend that. Have no interest in that. Did not watch it. I don't care what they do," DeSantis said at a press conference in Jacksonville on Monday, according to various reports. "For them to advertise me when that invitation was rejected by my office, that is a lie. Here they are saying how important they are that they are somehow these paragons of truth, yet they are lying about something that is readily verifiable."

The annual WHCA dinner dates back a century and has historically been attended by members of the association as well as high-ranking government officials, including the president and first lady.

Though former President Donald Trump did not attend during his term — saying the event was "too negative" — President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden brought back the tradition on Saturday, which marked the return of the dinner after it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

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President Biden even cracked a few jokes of his own, taking aim at his predecessor, the press and himself.

Noah followed Biden at the podium and quickly brought up the Florida governor, who was listed in the program as an attendee, according to a Washington, D.C.-based Miami Herald reporter who shared an image of it on Twitter.

"One of my favorites, Ron DeSantis, is here," Noah said, pointing to the audience. "Oh man, I'm actually surprised that he found the time. You know he has been so busy trying to outmaneuver Trump for 2024. I see you, Ron. I see you, player. Yeah, I've seen what you've been doing, blaming Trump for the lock-downs, distancing yourself from the vaccines that Trump created with his own two hands."

Noah then did an impression of Trump boasting about the vaccines for COVID-19, prompting laughs.

"He won't even tell people if he got the booster," Noah said, referring again to DeSantis. "Or as they say in Florida: 'Don't ask, don't tell,' am I right? I see you, Ron."

Noah made some jokes comparing the governor and former president and calling out Florida's controversial legislation dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by opponents, which DeSantis signed into law recently, arguing it protected kids from LGBTQ topics in schools — the very thing critics say is blatantly discriminatory.

Noah also riffed on DeSantis' role in various Florida controversies.

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"Trump was the original Terminator, DeSantis is like the T-1000," he said. "You're smarter than him, you're slicker than him, you can walk down ramps. Because you see, no, Trump said he won the election, but everyone was just able to look at the numbers and see he was wrong. That's why Ron DeSantis is one step ahead, first you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes. Boom, my man!"

A rep for DeSantis said on Twitter on Sunday that the governor never intended to attend the dinner.

"He was not there and never planned to be there," Christina Pushaw wrote. "This is wishful thinking / obsession."