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The nation’s elite gathered in Washington, D.C., this Saturday for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an “incestuous” annual event in which administration officials and the journalists who ostensibly cover them frolic together in play and laughter.
This year’s dinner marked the first one attended by the U.S. president since the days of former President Barack Hussein Obama. His immediate successor, former President Donald Trump, skipped the event for four straight years, preferring instead to spend his time with working-class Americans and not the nation’s elite.
But Trump’s immediate successor, current President Joe Biden, not surprisingly chose to revive the “tradition” of the U.S. president attending the event and, as is customary, use the event to first crack jokes and then deliver a serious speech.
To Biden’s credit, he chose to crack jokes about both himself and his political enemies. The joke-making commenced immediately after White House Correspondents’ Association president Steven Portnoy introduced him to loud applause.
“Thank you Steve for that introduction and a special thanks to the 42 percent of you actually applauded. I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have,” the president quipped, taking a dig at his poor approval numbers.
He then turned around and took a swipe at Trump.
“This is the first time a president has attended this dinner in six years. It’s understandable. We had a horrible plague followed by two years of COVID,” he said, referring to his predecessor as a plague.
The plague remark triggered raucous applause from the demonstrably left-wing establishment media figures in attendance:
‘This is the first time the president attended this dinner in 6 years … We had a horrible plague, followed by 2 years of COVID’ — Pres. Biden begins his speech by firing shots at Donald Trump 👀 #WHCD pic.twitter.com/Sr8CpSghoY
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 1, 2022
Below is a list of some of the president’s other jokes.
Jan. 6th Joke
“Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now that would really have been a real coup if that occurred.”
Age Jokes
“The very first president to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner was Calvin Coolidge in 1924. I’d just been elected to the United States Senate. I remember telling him, ‘Cal, just be yourself. Get up there and speak from the heart. You’re gonna to be great, kid. You’re gonna do well.'”
“Folks, it’s been a tough few years for the country. That’s one reason why it’s great to be here again. Everyone at the White House is so excited. I told my grandkids and Pete Buttigieg they could stay up late and watch this show tonight.”
Fox News Jokes
“I know there are questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we’re here to show the country that we’re getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone had to prove they’re fully vaccinated and boosted. So if you’re at home watching this and you wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted, all of them.”
“And look, Fox News, I’m really sorry your preferred candidate lost the last election. To make it up to you, I’m happy to give my chief of staff to you all so he can tell Sean Hannity what to say every day.”
Republican Jokes
“Folks, I’m not really here to roast the GOP. That’s not my style. Besides, there’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape.”
“They say it’s not your father’s Republican party. Ronald Reagan said, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down.’ Today’s Republicans say, ‘Tear down Mickey Mouse’s house.’ And pretty soon, they’ll be storming Cinderella’s castle. You can be sure of it. But Republicans seem to support one fellow – some guy named Brandon. He’s having a really good year. And I’m kinda happy for him.”
Missing were any jokes about the Democrat Party’s increasing radicalism, including its embrace of racial essentialism and pseudoscience. Also missing was any recognition of how poorly this administration has fared with its disastrous, widely panned economic policies that have exacerbated and continue to exacerbate inflation.
The arguably best joke came at the end, when the president sought to speak seriously about how it’s perfectly OK to criticize political leaders in the United States.
“Here in America, good journalism, good satire about our leaders, about our society is quintessentially an American thing. It demonstrates the power of our example. And I honest to God believe it reveals our soul, the soul of our nation. That’s what I’d like to toast tonight, to the journalists and their families to the people and the elected representatives to the United States of America,” he said.
Except that the right to criticize political leaders is actually in great danger thanks to this administration, which is what made his remark seem so comical to critics.
Did the man who created the “disinformation governance board” just tell us how great free speech is? Wait? What? Brandon Biden must’ve slipped a cog again. #WHCD
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) May 1, 2022
The guy who is putting in place a disinformation czar, soviet-style, is lecturing about free speech. Can’t make this stuff up. #WHCD
— Karen Townsend (@penguinponders) May 1, 2022
I wonder what Julian Assange can say about this.
— Makhosi Mnguni (@MakhosiMnguni1) May 1, 2022
Does freedom of the press extend to Julian Assange!? #WHCD
— Latino Heat 2.0 🇲🇽🔥 (@TonyBananas__) May 1, 2022
Biden then cracked a final joke while turning the microphone over to comedian Trevor Noah for the night’s main act.
“I’m going to turn this over to Trevor. … Trevor, the really good news is now you get to roast the president of the United States, and unlike in Moscow, you won’t go to jail,” he said.
Not yet …
Joe Biden just got a standing ovation at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. One of the last places left in the country where this would happen. Says it all about the beltway media
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) May 1, 2022
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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