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This is an election year, and between questions about President Joe Biden’s mental health and anger over his administration’s role in funding the deaths and displacement of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, key voters are Many are unwilling to vote for incumbent candidates. right now. It would probably be a politically inappropriate time for him to be the guest of honor at the roast. Nevertheless, Pro-Palestinian protest outside the Washington Hilton venue, the 2024 White House Correspondents Dinner was held as scheduled on April 27th. The headliner of the event is S.N.L. The White House Correspondents’ Association’s Colin Jost proved to be a seasoned roastmaster, drawing on his extensive experience as he mocked Biden live on air Saturday night.
In Jost’s speech, the president spoke mostly casually. Most of the jabs at the president were light jokes about his age that could be aired on “Weekend Update.” The topic also came up in Biden’s own remarks minutes earlier, and he used it as an opportunity to take a little dig at Donald Trump and campaign. Mr. Trump also came under considerable attack on Mr. Jost’s set, with his usual targets at the correspondents dinner being Fox News, media industry embattled Mitch McConnell, and Mr. Jost’s home borough of Staten Island. . There was a lot of wordplay, and Jost joked with a sheepish grin, his eyes darting back and forth across the room.
Beyond the jokes, the comedian echoes the sentiments of headliners from previous years by noting that the event is symbolic of America’s commitment to freedom of the press, and about the “common sense” that makes this possible. I ended my set by mentioning this. If this is indeed the “last White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” as he hypothesizes, here are some of the notable jokes he made during the farewell.
• “Good evening, everyone. I’m Colin Jost, and I’m here to give you the Republican answer. To be honest, I don’t have much time. I’m juror number 5 in a big trial, so I need to get back to New York. Mr. Trump’s lawyer took one look at me and said, “He must be on our side.”
• “Based on polls in battleground states, we are honored to host the final White House Correspondents Dinner here. We hope this is a night to remember… [Glancing at President Biden] …for most of us. I was excited to be on stage with President Biden here tonight, but it was mostly to see if I could figure out where Obama was pulling his strings from. I have to admit, following President Biden will not be easy. I mean, it’s not always easy to follow what he says. ”
• “Can we just admit how refreshing it is to see the President of the United States appear at an event that doesn’t begin with the bailiff’s words, ‘All stand up’? And I just want to point out that it’s after 10 p.m. Sleepy Joe is still awake, but Donald Trump has been falling asleep in court every morning for the past week, and FOX News says he’s just “not awake.” Stated.
• “We’re all meeting up for Nerd Prom tonight. Well, Matt Gaetz attends prom regularly.”
• “Like many of you here tonight, I’m pretending to do news on TV. My Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che was also scheduled to join us tonight. , decided to stand in solidarity with President Biden and lose all support from black Americans. Che told me to say that, and I just realized that I had been set up. ”
• “As a former aspiring journalist, I would like to sincerely congratulate all the award winners here tonight. We are offering a scholarship to a promising young journalism student.”
• “Fox News is coming tonight. It’s the end of an era. It’s strange that Rupert Murdoch resigned from Fox News. I didn’t think there would be a ‘step down’ from Fox News.”
• “Wardle is here tonight. Sorry, sorry, I meant New York.” times. I forgot that I was doing something other than puzzles. I have to say, it’s not a very good sign when the only thing keeping a print media company afloat is the games people play on their phones. Is it too cold for you? This room froze over faster than Mitch McConnell. ”
• “I apologize.” timesBut as a Staten Islander, I still get all my news from New York. post: It’s the only paper whose front page always uses the same 200-point font, whether the headline is “World War III Begins Tomorrow” or “Owl Killed in Central Park Building Collision.”new york post It’s like having New York times A crackhead put it together for you.of times “Border deals keep slipping through Congress,” they would say, and post It’s like, “Mexicans are stealing my stuff!” ”
• “Lara Trump is here tonight. She recently released a cover of the song “I Won’t Back Down.” When Tom Petty heard that, he died again. I can’t believe you’d say this to a member of the Trump family, but why not stick to politics? ”
• “There are many hard-working and influential senators and congressmen here tonight, and I speak for everyone I know when I say, “Stop emailing us! “about it. We know that democracy is at stake. And your plan to save it is to flood our inboxes like you’re Crate & Barrel. ”
• “I love being in Washington. The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I left my cocaine at the White House. Luckily, the president was able to put it to good use in his State of the Union address.” Sure, I’m kidding. The president doesn’t call it ‘cocaine,’ he calls it ‘high-speed rail.’
• “There’s an election six months from now. So let’s see if you can summarize where this race stands at the moment. He owes money and now spends his days farting when he wakes up during a porn star hush money trial. The race is tied?! The race is tied! He was a famous New York City playboy! The candidate is taking away your right to abortion and the man who is trying to give you back your right to abortion is an 80-year-old Catholic.”
• “President Biden: Isn’t it crazy that he’s our nation’s second Catholic president? And even crazier, in just a few months, RFK Jr. will host its third convention That’s just kidding. He doesn’t have any vaccinations, as it says on his vaccine card.”
• “People keep asking if our lives are better than they were four years ago. Of course they are. Four years ago, online sports gambling didn’t exist. What more do you need? By the way. Maybe online gambling and Taylor Swift are supporting the economy.”
• “Now that O.J. is gone, who is President Trump’s new front-runner for vice president?” Diddy?By the way, if it was Trump, I’m sure did Choose Didi as your running mate, I’m sure this race will still be a tie! ”
• “Dear journalists, these are difficult times, and we need the people in this room to guide us. Your job is not easy, and we are living in the end of traditional media. The gatekeepers are gone. Did you know that 90% of people now only get their news from social media? Must It’s true, because I saw it on some random guy’s TikTok. He was recording a video while driving his Toyota Corolla, and he seemed to know his stuff. By the way, isn’t it crazy that TikTok could be outlawed in the US by the end of this year? We’ll need TikTok to record who’s going to storm the Capitol on January 6th next year. So this is really unfortunate. ”
• “I want to salute all the print journalists in this room. Your words speak truth to power, your words bring light to darkness, and most importantly, your words It’s about training an AI program to replace you in no time.”
• “It may be the worst time ever to be a print journalist, but it’s the best time ever to be a courtroom sketch artist. My God! The most famous person on earth is on trial, and cameras are not allowed. Not allowed. Just the artists and the pastels and their desire to make Trump look as bad as possible. Every sketch of Trump looks like the Grinch had sex with the Lorax.”
