WASHINGTON (AP) – The annual gala at the White House press office returned Saturday night with the burning of Washington, the journalists who covered it, and the man in charge: President Joe Biden.
The White House Correspondents Association dinner taken out of the 2020 and 2021 pandemics introduced Biden as the first president in six years to accept an invitation. Donald Trump rejected the event while in office.
“Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year,” Biden told an audience of 2,600, including journalists, government officials and celebrities. “Now that would really be a real coup.”
The president took the opportunity to try out his comedy steaks, shedding light on criticism he faced during his 18-month term as he targeted his predecessor, the Republican Party and the press.
“I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than me,” Biden told a Hilton ballroom full of media representatives.
Biden also shed light on the slogan “Let’s go Brandon”, which has become a substitute for the right for cursing the president.
“Republicans seem to support one man, a man named Brandon,” Biden said, causing a storm of laughter in the crowd. “He has a really good year. I am happy for him.”
As for baking the GOP, he said, “There’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t put on tape anymore.”
He also received a hit in Fox News. “I know there are a lot of questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we are here to show the country that we are going through this pandemic. In addition, everyone must prove that they are fully vaccinated and strengthened, “said Biden. “Just get in touch with your favorite Fox News reporter. They are all here. Vaccinated and reinforced. ”
In addition to speeches by Biden and comedian Trevor Noah, the hours-long event recorded sketches by talk show host James Cordon, comedian Bill Eichner and even Biden himself.
“Thank you for accepting me here,” Noah told Biden. “And I was a little confused about why I was, but then I was told that you get your highest marks of approval when an African of different races is standing next to you.”
While much of the speech was full of sharp blows, Biden noted the important role that journalism plays in American democracy, especially in the last decade.
“I want this from the bottom of my heart that you, the free press, are more important than ever in the last century,” he said. “You are the guardians of the truth.”
The dinner had other highlights, in honor of colorful pioneering journalists, ambitious student reporters, and a dedication to journalists detained, wounded or killed during the coverage of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The first news event in Washington, DC, the reporters’ dinner blended Washington journalists such as CNN’s Jake Tapper and MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reed with celebrities Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Brooke Shields, Caitlin Jenner, Drew Barryth and Drew Barryth. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was among many government officials and other prominent figures.
Accompanied by the first lady, the president came to the event as he tried to strike a careful balance with a nation tired of the pandemic but facing rising infections. The continuing national threat has hit the president’s home closer: Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive last week and Dr Anthony Fauci missed a dinner on health precautions.
The United States is experiencing a jump in COVID-19 from a highly infected subunit of omicron, with confirmed infections rising to about 44,000 a day from 26,000 a month ago. However, virus deaths and hospitalizations were close to or at the lowest levels of the pandemic, with option BA.2 proving to be less severe than earlier virus strains.
Following the recent Gridiron Club press dinner in Washington, DC, dozens of attendees, including members of Congress and Biden’s cabinet and journalists, tested positive for COVID-19. The White House Correspondents Association said it required an antigen test on the same day for dinner attendees even before Gridiron erupted, then added a vaccination requirement.
Biden, 79, decided to skip dinner but show up for the program later. Although he planned to be disguised when he was not speaking, the unmasked president greeted the award winners on the podium and could be seen smiling broadly during the evening program.
The Correspondents’ Dinner debuted in 1921. Three years later, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to attend, and everyone since then except Trump. However, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon chose not to attend each year of their presidencies, and Reagan, who was then recovering from an assassination attempt, missed the 1981 installment – but was called by Camp David.
“The thing I think it shows is restoring the health of the relationship,” Harold Holzer, author of Presidents Against the Press and director of the Roosevelt House Institute for Public Policy at Hunter College in New York, said before dinner. “It’s still prickly, there are still tense moments. But that’s good. “
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
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