with videoWhite House comedy night is back: For the first time in six years, an American president is making fun of the Correspondents’ Dinner again. Joe Biden can laugh at the mockery of his failure.
It’s nice to have a president, said comedian Trevor Noah, “who isn’t afraid to come to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and hear jokes about himself.” Biden laughed when Noah threw a series of witty jokes about his transgressions at his feet.
The US president recently shocked the world when he spoke out loud that Vladimir Putin should be impeached. “Very shocking for Russia, until someone explained to them that nothing Biden wants really happens,” Noah said.
With that, the traditional comedy night for journalists, politicians and celebrities is back in Washington. The last president to come to the gala to tell and hear jokes was Barack Obama in 2016. In the Trump years, the party disappeared from the radar.
Hostile relationship with the press
Trump had a hostile relationship with the press and did not want to get involved. Many celebrities, in turn, did not want to be seen near the White House. The dinner has been canceled for the past two years due to the coronavirus. Now there are before and after parties all over town, and CNN discusses the night before with eight analysts.
The idea is that politicians, journalists and Hollywood stars will celebrate freedom of expression together during the Correspondents’ Dinner. But the gala is also seen as an example of the self-glorification of the Washington ‘clique’ and had become very unpopular in recent years. Journalists laugh and drink with the rulers they should follow critically. The most influential newspaper in the country, the New York Times, says forbidding reporters following the White House from attending.
painfully funny joke
“I’m happy to be here with the only group of Americans who have a lower popularity score than me,” Biden said, with a sense of self-mockery. He joked the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” has become synonymous with ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ among opponents of Biden after a sports reporter misheard a chant in the stands. Biden last night: “The Republicans seem to support one guy in particular, a guy named Brandon. He’s had a really good year, I’m pretty happy for him.”
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Trevor, unlike in Moscow, you can make fun of the US president and not go to jail
He clapped his hands laughing after a painfully pointed joke by Trevor Noah about Biden’s lack of political success. These are golden times for conspiracy theories, Noah observed. The right believes Trump can still win the 2020 election, the left believes Biden can still win the 2024 election.
For a long time, Biden tried to ignore his predecessor as much as possible, but he has now abandoned that. He lashed out at Trump. “This is the first time in six years that a president has attended this dinner† Understandable. There was a terrible plague, followed by two years of corona,” he referred to Trump’s presidency.
‘Poison in our democracy’
Biden also spoke seriously about the importance of good journalism and warned against disinformation, “poison in our democracy.” He made a plea for the search for the truth, and liked to emphasize the contrast with authoritarian countries like Russia. To comedian Noah: “Trevor, unlike in Moscow, you can make fun of the US president and not go to jail.”
By the way, Biden keeps himself relatively far from journalists. In his first year as president, he held nine official press conferences, half of his predecessor Trump’s in his first 12 months.
At least Trevor Noah felt free to lash out some more when his performance was over. Referring to the bungled withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan: “Be careful when leaving. We all know this government is not good at evacuations.”
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