• by Joe Mandese , Yesterday

Something funny happened on the way to the White House Correspondent's dinner. And then, something not-so-funny happened when Trump took the stage for what should have been a jovial roast of the White House Press Corp.

Instead, he ranted in his crotchety, mean-spirited way, demeaning the press in general, and some members of the press in particular, especially CNN's Kaitlan Collins. It was uncomfortable for someone watching at home, and I can only imagine how surreal it must have felt to people sitting in the room.

You can watch it for yourself here, but better yet, watch "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart's interview with Collins Monday night and see how she took it in stride. But not Stewart, who shared personal insight about his role as head of the White House Satirical Press Corp.

It made me think about how much both Trump 1.0 and 2.0 has neutered the actual press corp. over the past decade, and how remarkable it is to see someone as stalwart as Collins remaining professional and just doing her job regardless of the jabs Trump hurls at her.

During the interview, Stewart marveled at Collins' professionalism by sharing a personal observation that he finds his job "covering" Trump "cathartic, but impotent" and wondered how actual journalists -- not the pretend ones on "The Daily Show's" staff -- deal with it.

"I feel like you guys deserve better than that," he confided.

It reminded me of New York University Professor Jay Rosen's suggestion that America's news organizations send their interns -- not their top journalists -- to cover Trump's White House.

More than a decade later, I wonder how many top journalists will actually be allowed to cover the White House -- Collins included -- if "The Daily Show's" parent Paramount ultimately is successful in acquiring CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery, and then does to it what it has already done to CBS News.

In the meantime, I also find it remarkable that Paramount hasn't sought to neuter "The Daily Show" -- or for that matter, "South Park" -- and continue to let them skewer Trump. See Stewart's takedown of Trump's comedic delivery during his White House Correspondents Dinner speech below. Unlike Trump, it is hilarious, although not mean-spirited.

It also, ironically, is some of the best editorializing about what is really going on with Trump's war on the free press (no, not that "Free Press"), and I can only imagine a not-too-distant dystopian future in which Paramount/WBD decimates CNN, leaving "The Daily Show" to live up to its tagline: "From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for news."