Story highlights The split screen between the White House correspondents' dinner and Trump's Harrisburg speech was a fitting encapsulation of Trump's first 100 days

Trump will need to learn to play the Washington game far better in his next 1,000 days than in his first 100 days if he wants to a) get things done and b) get re-elected

(CNN) The contrast couldn't have been more stark. In Washington, journalists celebrated the First Amendment (and themselves) at a glitzy and ritzy dinner. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the President of the United States delivered up slabs of red-meat to some of his most loyal supporters who had gathered to celebrate his first 100 days in office.

It was the split-screen image that President Donald Trump wanted, a living, breathing testament to just how out of touch the "elites" in Washington really are and how he remains, despite all the barbs thrown at him by those elites, beloved among real Americans.

"As you may know there's another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington, D.C. Did you hear about it?" Trump asked the crowd in Harrisburg. "A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation's capital right now. They are gathered together for the White House correspondents' dinner without the President. And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from (the) Washington swamp spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd, and much better people."

And in Washington, comedian Hasan Minhaj, who delivered the big speech of the night at the correspondents' dinner , played right into Trump's hands with a searing excoriation of the President's first 100 days. It was well-received in the room -- because it was funny! -- but will just add fuel to the fire Trump has been stoking almost since the day he entered the presidential race.

That message is this: Elites in Washington (and Hollywood and every other big city in the country) think you are dumb. That you are "out of touch." That you don't get it. But what they don't get is you are the majority. You are the hardworking people who might not talk on TV or wear tuxedos to fancy dinners, but who have always comprised the backbone of our country.

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