Congress members join protest against ‘oligarch’s dinner’ for Trump thrown by Ellisons | Trump administration
Dozens of protesters, including members of Congress, gathered on the National Mall on Thursday to protest. an “intimate” dinner The event was organized by Paramount Skydance general manager David Ellison “to celebrate the First Amendment” and “in honor of the Trump White House and CBS White House Correspondents” and was attended by Donald Trump.
Paramount faced criticism for the dinner, seen by some as indicative of the cozy relationship between the Ellisons and the White House, as the Trump administration weighs whether to approve the company’s $110 billion merger with CNN parent WarnerBros Discovery. The dinner came before a White House correspondents’ dinner that Trump will attend on Saturday. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to sit at one of the many tables purchased by CBS News for the event.
Earlier Thursday, WBD shareholders voted “overwhelmingly” to approve the merger, which will still require approval from the Justice Department and European regulators.
U.S. representative Jamie Raskin, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Ellisons’ ownership of CBS News, called the event “a lavish oligarch dinner for Donald Trump.”
“Tonight we gather here together [because] In the building behind us, David Ellison is hosting a dinner honoring President Trump; this dinner was designed to tie the Ellisons to the president in their years-long corrupt merger scheme,” Raskin said.
The merger, which would bring multiple television networks under the Ellisons’ control, was “designed to unite old and new media in the interests of the Maga movement and the Donald Trump family,” the representative said.
“Right now, you probably see David Ellison speaking in the building behind me, toasting his friend, his supporter, his boss, Donald Trump,” said Becca Balint, a Democratic Vermont lawmaker and member of the House antitrust subcommittee.
“Think about it for a moment. Think about it for a moment. We’re here demanding accountability, we have the right to do that, not just as members of Congress, the people have the right to do that — we’re demanding accountability, and as we do that we’re doing the work of the people, of the people, by the people, and for the people, we’re doing that work, and inside they’re celebrating power. That’s what they’re celebrating: power and corruption.”
While many antitrust experts see a lawsuit by a coalition of state attorneys general as the most likely means to do so, speakers urged the crowd not to lose hope of blocking the merger.
Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, said Thursday’s dinner honoring the Trump administration was “like a celebration of the first amendment, like burning a book is a celebration of the written word.”
“This has nothing to do with celebrating the first amendment,” he added. “You’re all celebrating the first amendment by being here to block the merger.”
