Joe Biden Jokes About His Age, Fox News at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
President Joe Biden had a wide array of targets at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, skewering Don Lemon, Fox News, and critics of his advancing age.
“I get that age is a completely reasonable issue. It’s on everybody’s mind. And by everyone, I mean the New York Times. Headline: ‘Biden’s advanced age is a big issue. Trump’s is not,’” Biden said, making fun of a recent editorial from the newspaper that said the president should take voter concerns about his age seriously.
“Call me old? I call it being seasoned. You say I’m ancient. I say I’m wise. You say I’m over the hill. Don Lemon would say that’s a man in his prime,” the president said, referencing the CNN anchor who was recently fired. Lemon was widely criticized for a remark that presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, isn’t in her prime.
“I believe in the First Amendment,” Biden, 80, added, “and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it.”
The president also dinged several other media outlets, with Fox News drawing the brunt of it.
“You might think I don’t like Rupert Murdoch. That’s simply not true. How can I dislike a guy that makes me look like Harry Styles?,” Biden said. The president joked he’s outlasted Tucker Carlson and mentioned Fox News’s recent settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, saying the voting company “owned” Fox.
“Last year, your favorite Fox News reporters were able to attend because they were fully vaccinated and boosted. This year, with that $787 million settlement, they’re here because they couldn’t say ‘No’ to a free meal. And hell, I’d call Fox ‘Honest, Fair and Truthful,’ but then I could be sued for defamation,” said the president, adding that his goal is to make Fox journalists “laugh as hard as CNN did when they read the settlement. But then again, CNN was like ‘Wow, they actually have $787 million.’”
The president also made fun of recent criticism about his infrequent appearances. “In a lot of ways, this dinner sums up my first two years in office I’ll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away,” explained Biden.
Outside the Washington Hilton hotel, activists were protesting against Biden’s approach to climate change, which they think isn’t aggressive enough. But that didn’t deter the fun on Saturday.
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Comedian Roy Wood Jr. poked fun at Biden in return, beginning his set by saying: “Real quick, Mr. President, I think you left some of your classified documents up here.”
Wood also joked that no scandal has been more damaging as the question of “Is Joe Biden awake?”
The comedian couldn’t resist poking fun at Fox himself. “You all look good though. I’ve been watching and looking around all night. . . . Looks like everybody got a little piece of that settlement money from Fox News,” Wood said.
During his speech, Biden did take the opportunity to be serious and advocate for journalists held hostage by tyrannical regimes throughout the world. “A free press is a pillar of a free society,” Biden said.
“Journalism is not a crime. Evan [Gershkovich] and Austin [Tice] should be released immediately along with every other American held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad,” explained the president, referencing two journalists being held in Russia and Syria respectively.
Biden demanded Russia free Marine Paul Whelan and asked Brittney Griner, attending the dinner after being released from Russia in a prisoner swap earlier this year, to stand up for a round of applause.
— Yahoo News
