At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the vast majority of the 2,600 attendees are not White House correspondents. It is, however, the annual event in which the fourth estate dresses up in Washington to receive the president of the United States. Biden attended the meeting for the second year and, along with some very serious messages, made fun of himself, first, and then Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon, Fox, CNN, Elon Musk, Ron DeSantis…
The longest ovation of the night went to Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia by the Vladimir Putin regime. “Journalism is not a crime,” Biden said. “We are here to send a message to the country and, frankly, to the world: A free press is a pillar, perhaps the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy,” the president added in the serious part of his speech. In the room was basketball player Brittney Griner, freed by Moscow at the end of 2022 in a prisoner exchange. “This time last year we were praying for you, Brittney,” the president told him.
The dinner was held at the Washington Hilton hotel, in the same huge room where Biden gave his first speech as a re-election candidate on Tuesday. At the launch of his campaign, the president presented himself as a champion of freedom and this Saturday he once again launched a proclamation in favor of the press and freedom of expression. It’s the opposite of his likely presidential rival Donald Trump, who attacks the media whenever he can and who boycotted dinner during his tenure.
Biden made fun of himself for his age, and it is the third time he has done so this week. “I believe in the First Amendment. Not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” he said, referring to the constitutional amendment enshrining free speech, written in 1791 by James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the United States.
“Look, I understand that age is a completely reasonable matter,” he said. He is the first octogenarian president of the United States and if he is re-elected he would end a hypothetical second term at 86 years old. “Call me old? I call it being tanned. You say that I am old, I say that I am wise. You say I’m older, Don Lemon would say that’s a man in the prime of life!” Lemon was fired Monday as host of CNN’s morning show, after being suspended a few weeks ago for a sexist comment saying that at the age of Republican candidate Nikki Haley, 51, women are not “in the prime”.
“You might think that I don’t like Rupert Murdoch. That is not true. How can I not like a guy who makes me look like Harry Styles? [el cantante británco de 29 años]?”. The media mogul turned 92 on March 11.
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Roy Wood, the guest comedian, then picked up the gauntlet: “We should be inspired by events in France. They have rioted over raising the retirement age by two years, to 64. Meanwhile, in the United States, we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years.”
Tucker Carlson and the Fox
“This dinner is one of the two great traditions of Washington. The other is underestimating Kamala and me,” Biden joked, referring to Vice President Harris, who was present at the dinner, along with first lady Jill Biden. “But the truth is, we really have a record to be proud of. We have vaccinated the nation, transformed the economy, fueled historic victories and medium-term results. But the job is not finished. Well…it’s over for Tucker Carlson,” she said, using her campaign slogan to joke about the star Fox host, fired this week. She took it for granted that she would be the butt of the president’s jokes.
Biden continued to mock Fox: “It’s great that the cable news networks are here tonight: MSNBC owned by NBC Universal, Fox News owned by Dominion Voting Systems,” she said, referring to the company that sued her for defamation for the false accusations that she had manipulated the result of the 2020 elections. Fox has agreed to compensate her with 787.5 million dollars (706 million euros) to avoid trial.
“Last year, your favorite Fox News reporters were able to attend because they were fully vaccinated and boosted. This year, with that 780 million dollar agreement, they are here because they could not say no to a free meal, ”Biden said, always with his humorous tone. “And heck, I’d say Fox is ‘honest, fair and truthful.’ But then they would sue me for defamation, ”he said, poking at the wound.
He added that he hoped Fox would find the joke funny, as much as the Dominion deal did to the CNN anchor who read the rival network’s statement. Though he also implicitly messed with CNN’s financial difficulties: “They were saying, ‘Wow, do they really have 787 million?’
There has also been a taunt for Elon Musk. “I love NPR, because they whisper into the microphone like me. But not everyone loves NPR,” he declared, referring to the somewhat publicly funded radio that Twitter has left after it labeled it a government outlet. Elon Musk tweeted that he should stop funding himself. Well, the best way for NPR to disappear is for Elon Musk to buy it,” he continued.
And, of course, there was no shortage of attacks on Republican rivals: “As I’ve been saying, don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative,” Biden repeated, resorting to one of his campaign slogans. “We have added 12 million jobs, that’s just counting the lawyers who defend you! [a Donald Trump]!”.
“I want everyone to have fun tonight, but please be careful. If you find yourself disoriented or confused, you are either drunk or you are Marjorie Taylor Greene, ”she shot at one of the most radical Republican congresswomen. “I had a lot of Ron DeSantis jokes lined up, but Mickey Mouse beat me to it,” she said of the Florida governor, who is at odds with Disney.
Biden ended his speech giving way to Roy Wood, the guest comedian: “Roy, the lectern is yours. I’m going to take your jokes well, but I’m not sure about Dark Brandon, ”he said to say goodbye to him, putting on his sunglasses and assuming the superhero alter ego that his team spread about him last summer.
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