Journalists at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner offered an impassioned defense of their work at the annual event — which broke with tradition and featured neither the president nor a comedian — saying defiantly, "We are not the enemy of the state."

"Our responsibility is not to align with any one party or any one of gender, but to serve the people of this country with integrity and dedication," WHCA president Eugene Daniels said Saturday at the Washington Hilton hotel as members of the press, lawmakers and a smattering of Hollywood stars came together for the 111th annual dinner.

"We care deeply about accuracy and take seriously the heavy responsibility of being stewards of the public's trust. What we are not is the opposition," Daniels said to applause, before appearing to push back on remarks made in the past by President Trump.

"What we are not is the enemy of the people," Daniels said, without naming the president.

Trump has repeatedly called the "fake news media" the "enemy of the people."

Daniels's remarks came as Trump — who never attended the Correspondents' dinner throughout his first term in office — opted to buck tradition once again and skip the black-tie gala.

"For decades, presidents on both sides of the........

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