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, which the pandemic wiped out in 2020 and 2021, returned with 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 shed light on criticism he faced during his 18-month term and target 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 said.
The night was filled with recorded comedy sketches, including late-night TV presenters, comedians and even Biden himself.
The dinner also had its highlights, with a tribute to colorful pioneering journalists, ambitious student reporters, and a tribute to the journalist detained, wounded or killed during their coverage of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier in the night, to return to normalcy, journalists, government officials and celebrities marched on the red carpet, even as the threat of COVID-19 loomed over the hotel’s huge ballroom.
Comedy is back with The Daily Show host Trevor Noah as the headliner after Biden. Celebrities also reappeared: Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson walked the carpet, as did Brooke Shields and Caitlin Jenner. The event attracted a large number of government officials and other prominent figures.
Biden faced thousands in attendance as he tried to find a careful balance at a crucial time for the country. His administration is working to turn the page on the pandemic, although the virus remains a threat at the national level and close to home. Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive this week, and Dr. Anthony Fauci missed the dinner on health precautions.
Following the Gridiron Club’s recent press dinner in Washington, DC, dozens of attendees, including members of Congress and Biden’s cabinet and journalists, tested positive for COVID-19.
This raised questions about whether 79-year-old Biden should have attended Saturday’s dinner. The president planned to skip the meal, but to show up later for the program and wear a mask when not speaking. Instead, he was without a mask as he greeted the podium winners and smiled broadly throughout the evening.
The White House has highlighted the abundance of Paxlovid antiviral pill, which has been shown to reduce the severe effects of the virus by 90% among those at highest risk.
However, spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Biden: “We want to be very clear that he may be able to test positive for COVID, just like any American.
The White House Correspondents Association said it required an antigen test on the same day for dinner attendees even before Gridiron erupted. Then add a vaccination requirement.
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.
Despite the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations from the virus are near or at pandemic lows, with variant BA.2 proving to be less severe than previous virus strains. Just over 300 people die in the United States each day from the virus, which is less than more than 2,600 a day earlier this year – with about 1,600 hospitalizations a day, down from a peak of more than 21,000 a day in January.
Psaki said Biden’s decision to attend “contrasts sharply with his predecessor, who not only questions the legitimacy of the press almost every day, but also never attends dinner.” Trump, who sometimes called the media an “enemy of the people,” happily boycotted the event as president.
In addition to the looming threat of the virus, Biden planned to take the microphone as the massive and deadly invasion of Ukraine continued to unfold at the hands of Russian forces.
Biden mentioned dinner during a speech last week on Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying: “I have always had respect for the press, but I can’t tell you how much respect I see in those areas where they are under fire.”
“Imagine if we didn’t get this information,” the president added. “It’s going to be a different world.”
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 Ronald Reagan, 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,” said Harold Holzer, author of Presidents Against the Press and director of the Roosevelt House Institute for Public Policy at Hunter College in New York. “It’s still prickly, there are still tense moments. But that’s good. ”
After comedian Michelle Wolfe’s scathing satire sparked controversy in 2018, the following year’s event included historian Ron Chernow. The return of celebrities this time is reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s administration, when people like George Clooney, Charlize Theron and Viola Davis were present.
As vice president in 2014, Biden appeared in a comedy video with HBO star Veep Julia Lewis-Dreyfus, which caused a lot of laughter at the reporters’ dinner. White House Director of Speech Viney Reddy and Biden’s longtime adviser Mike Donilon have worked on Biden’s remarks this year, the White House said, using material from a variety of people inside and outside government.
Psaki has already admitted that he is trying to lower expectations, saying the speech is not funny at all. I’m just kidding. “Presidential attempts at humor, however, can be difficult.
At a dinner in 2011, Obama immediately stabbed Trump – in his presence – over Trump’s fictitious allegations about the then-president’s birth certificate. Obama ended with a thought for Trump to take office one day, saying, “He will certainly make a difference in the White House,” as banquet hall screens flashed a parody of the large facade of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with the Trump logo. , gold columns, digital clock and a sign reading “Hotel, casino, golf course, presidential suite”.
This turned out to be prophetic, as Trump, of course, succeeded Obama – although the changes he eventually brought to the presidency failed to establish his name in the White House.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
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