5 Biden Jokes From Correspondents' Dinner
President, media attend annual event, amid Gaza protests
By John Johnson, Newser Staff
Posted Apr 28, 2024 6:12 AM CDT
newser.com
President Biden, members of the media, and celebs attended the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday, though they had to make their way through protests about the Gaza war to get there. Some of Biden's jokes and related news:
- Biden I: "The 2024 election is in full swing. And yes, age is an issue. I'm a grown man running against a 6-year-old," he said, per the New York Times. (Donald Trump did not attend and has not done so for years.)
- Biden III: "Donald has had a few tough days lately. You might call it 'stormy' weather," said Biden, making a Stormy Daniels joke.
- Biden IV: "Trump is so desperate he started reading those Bibles he's selling. And he got to the first commandment: You shall have no other god before me. That's when he put it down and said this book is not for me."
- Biden V: "Look, being here is a reminder that folks think what's going on in Congress is political theater. That's not true. If Congress were theater, they would have thrown out Lauren Boebert a long time ago."
- Warning: Biden didn't joke the entire speech. "We have to take this serious—eight years ago we could have written it off as 'Trump talk' but not after January 6," Biden said of the former president's campaign talk, per the AP.
- Emcee Colin Jost: "Can we just acknowledge how refreshing it is to see a president of the United States at an event that doesn't begin with a bailiff saying 'all rise'?" said the SNL star, per the Washington Post.
- Jost, II: "It's not always easy following President Biden," he said, per USA Today. "Like it's not always easy following what he's saying." He added, "I hope tonight will be a night to remember ... for most of us."
- Protesters: Attendees had to walk through protesters in DC angry at Biden for the US support of Israel and upset at members of the media for a perceived undercoverage of Gaza or at least skewed coverage. "Western media we see you, and all the horrors that you hide," crowds chanted. Biden made no mention of the conflict in his speech.
- Red carpet: In contrast to those protests was the red-carpet aspect of the event. USA Today has a gallery of photos of attendees.
- Another serious note: Kelly O'Donnell, a White House reporter for NBC News who is president of the correspondents' association, called attention to journalists killed or detained around the world, including Evan Gershkovich. "Our profession can be perilous," O'Donnell said. "Since October, about 100 journalists have been killed, most of those deaths in Gaza."
(More White House Correspondents' Association dinner stories.) |
