Last Friday we learned that President Trump would not be attending the White House Correspondents dinner on April 28.

During a radio interview in New York City, Trump called last year’s dinner a “massive failure.” He referred to the media types as novelists, pumping up his “fake news” accusations.

Later in the day, it was confirmed the president would not attend but that White House press secretary Sarah Sanders would be representing the administration.

Trump’s snub of the press dinner is not a shocker. He attended the same dinner in 2011 as a guest of The Washington Post and several speakers gave him some digs, including President Barack Obama about the “birther” conspiracy. But it was Seth Meyers, host of the dinner that year, who delivered the most scathing remark when he alluded to a possible Trump candidacy.

“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican which is surprising, since I just assumed that he was running as a joke,” he said.

Trump stared straight ahead, never smiling.

Trump denied that the dinner had any influence on his decision to run in 2016, stating that there were many reasons he was running. But his stoic expression showed us that he did not enjoy being the butt of jokes.

Today, Trump and his family continue to be mocked and vilified by a hostile left-leaning media and entertainment community. CNN’s Jim Acosta, who Trump calls the king of fake news, was even firing questions at the president about DACA during the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.

We understand that any president should expect to take fire from the press, but the onslaught against the Trumps, especially first lady Melania and son Baron, is unprecedented. Described as quiet and reserved, Melania has been ridiculed and scrutinized on everything from her wardrobe to her foreign accent.

Comedians, actors and talk show hosts, including Alec Baldwin, Jim Carrey, Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler and Jimmy Kimmel have been among the most vicious in their attacks on the first family.

Handler ridiculed Melania, who was born in Slovenia, stating she could “barely speak English.” Kimmel even mocked Melania’s accent while she was reading to children during the Easter Roll event.

What they fail to tell listeners is that Melania Trump can speak six languages: English, German, Italian, French, Serbian and Slovene. The White House also asked the media to spare the attacks on Barron.

In a brief statement to the media, it noted the “long-standing tradition that the children of presidents are afforded the opportunity to grow up outside of the political spotlight.”

Katie Rich was suspended from “Saturday Night Live” after tweeting that “Barron will be this country’s first home-school shooter.”

Comedian Kathy Griffin caused an outrage when she held a fake bloodied head of President Trump for a photo shoot last year. The president responded by tweeting: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”

Even Chelsea Clinton, who was mocked as a White House child herself when her father was president in the 1990s, defended Barron, saying “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid.”

In her role as first lady, Melania Trump has made cyberbullying among children a priority. This, she explained, involves encouraging positive habits on social media and technology, limiting time online and understanding the content that young people are exposed to on a daily basis.

She called for a commitment to promoting values such as encouragement, kindness, compassion and respect in our children.

“With those values as a solid foundation, our kids will be better equipped to deal with many of the evils in our world today, such as drug abuse and addiction and negative social media interactions,” she said.

That’s pretty good advice for people of any age. If only those snarky Hollywood “stars” gave us that kind of sound advice instead of trying to constantly hammer on a duly-elected president, his wife and young son, we might be in a better world.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com