The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — recognized for its enjoyable albeit ferocious jabs at Washington — took a extra solemn tone this 12 months as President Joe Biden acknowledged the a number of American journalists below siege in authoritarian nations around the globe.
“We’re right here to ship a message to the nation and, fairly frankly, to the world: The free press is a pillar, perhaps the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy,” Mr. Biden stated in his speech.
The president and first girl Jill Biden, upon arriving on the Washington Hilton on Saturday, met privately with the mother and father of Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia since March. He was charged with spying, regardless of robust denials from his employer and the U.S. authorities. Some friends wore buttons with “Free Evan” printed on them.
Additionally among the many 2,600 folks attending the gala was Debra Tice, the mom of Austin Tice, who has not been heard from since disappearing at a checkpoint in Syria in 2012. U.S. officers say they function below the belief that he’s alive and are working to attempt to deliver him residence.
ALEXANDER DRAGO / REUTERS
“Journalism isn’t a criminal offense. Evan and Austin ought to be launched instantly together with each different American detained overseas,” Mr. Biden stated. “I promise you, I’m working like hell to get them residence.”
The Bidens additionally made a beeline for Brittney Griner, the WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist who was detained in Russia for almost 10 months final 12 months earlier than her launch in a prisoner swap. Griner attended together with her spouse, Cherelle, as friends of CBS Information.
“This time final 12 months we had been praying for you, Brittney,” Mr. Biden stated to the basketball star.
The annual black-tie dinner drew a wide selection of celebrities and media moguls to Washington, with events being held throughout the capital. Amongst these in attendance had been actor Liev Schreiber, singer John Legend and his spouse, Chrissy Teigen, the mannequin and tv persona.
Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the dinner with a pre-taped video concerning the significance of a free and unbiased press, calling reporters an “ally of the folks.” Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been seated on the stage together with comic Roy Wooden Jr., a correspondent for “The Each day Present,” who was the featured entertainer.
Whereas Mr. Biden spent nearly all of his speech targeted on the problem of press freedom, he took time to take jabs at a few of his most vocal political critics in addition to himself. The event is a well-known and cozy one for Mr. Biden, who attended a number of of the dinners as vice chairman to Barack Obama. The Washington occasion returned last year after being sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Mr. Biden was the primary president in six years to simply accept the invitation after former President Donald Trump shunned the event while in office.
However this 12 months, he got here not solely because the commander in chief however as a presidential contender. He took some jabs at potential 2024 Republican candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying “I had loads of Ron DeSantis jokes prepared however Mickey Mouse beat the hell out of me, bought there first.”
He began his punchlines with Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy, taking direct goal at a latest invoice House Republicans passed that will carry the debt ceiling in alternate for a collection of finances cuts, together with a few of Mr. Biden’s key legislative achievements.
“The final time Republicans voted for one thing that hapless it took 15 tries,” Mr. Biden stated, referring to the gruesome fight McCarthy endured to turn into speaker in January.
And he did not cease there, going after Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch about his age. “And also you name me previous?” he informed the gang.
Mr. Biden even made a few self-deprecating jokes, largely surrounding criticism of his age as he mounts a second bid for reelection. “I consider within the First Modification and never simply because my good pal Jimmy Madison wrote it,” he stated to a roaring crowd.
Wooden, who took the stage after Mr. Biden, additionally zeroed in on the president’s age.
“We ought to be impressed by the occasions in France. They rioted when the retirement age went up two years to 64,” Wooden stated. “In the meantime in America, now we have an 80-year-old man, begging us for 4 extra years.”
