US President Joe Biden speaks during the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner in Washington, DC, US on Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | beautiful images
Chairperson Joe Biden on Saturday used a speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to criticize the former President Donald Trumptook aim at the presumptive Republican nominee while also highlighting the stakes of the election.
Biden joked about his political opponent’s disadvantage and directly addressed the issue of age, saying he was “a grown man going against a six-year-old.”
The president then said that age is the only thing he and Trump have in common, adding, “My vice president really has my back,” a reference to former Vice President Mike Pence. refuse to say he would support his old running mate in 2024.
But Biden’s speech took a serious turn as he discussed the issues of November’s presidential election, echoing themes of his campaign speeches as he emphasized what he called Trump’s “attack on our democracy.”
The president called on the press to “raise the seriousness of this moment”.
“Let’s ignore the horse-race numbers, the ‘gotcha’ moments and the distractions and sideshows that have dominated and sensationalized our politics, and focus on the What is really at stake? “I think in your heart, you know what’s at stake.”
US President Joe Biden speaks during the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel, in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2024.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | beautiful images
Biden also highlighted the detention of The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovic, who has been jailed in Russia for more than a year on espionage charges that he and his employer both deny. His case was classified by the US as wrongful detention
The president called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Gershkovich immediately, adding that the White House is also doing everything possible to bring freelance journalist Austin Tice and businessman Paul Whelan home.
Gershkovich’s parents and Tice’s mother were among about 2,600 guests who attended the dinner, an estimate provided by NBC News political reporter Steve Kornacki in a video played at the event.
“I promise you as Biden: We will not give up until we bring them home,” Biden said. “All of them.”
Biden also highlighted the wrongful detention of Americans abroad, including Gershkovic, at last year’s dinner. The president emphasized in a speech last year that “journalism is not a crime,” noting that a free press is the “pillar” of a “free society.”
Celebrities attending Saturday’s event included Scarlett Johansson, who is married to Jost; Rachel Brosnahan and Quavo. Senior politicians and administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn, also attended.
First lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second lady Doug Emhoff also attended the event at the Washington Hilton hotel.
NBC News senior correspondent Kelly O’Donnell is serving as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association for the 2023-24 term and hosted the dinner.
The cast of “Saturday Night Live” Colin Jost was the dinner’s featured entertainer. He co-hosts the NBC show “Weekend Update.”
Like Biden, Jost made several jokes at the former president’s expense, including Trump’s criminal trial, beginning his remarks by saying “how refreshing it is to be meeting a president of the United States at an event that doesn’t begin with the bailiff saying, ‘It’s all up.'”
Jost also took aim at Biden at times, comparing the economy to the president’s ascent on Air Force One: “It looks like it’s stumbling, but somehow there’s upward progress.” The comedian also told the president that his deceased grandfather voted for Biden in the last election because he thought Biden was “a decent person.”
While the dinner, a tradition dating back 100 years, took place inside the ballroom, hundreds of protesters mobilized outside the venue to call for a ceasefire and criticize Biden’s response to the war Israel-Hamas in Gaza.
Protesters chanted: “Shame on you!” as attendees walked past them to enter the hotel. They also shouted criticism of the media and a large sign read: “Stop media complicity in genocide.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate outside the Washington Hilton, host of the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, on April 27, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images News | beautiful images
“Every time the media lies, journalists in Gaza die,” the crowd echoed the leader’s chant.
Protesters then called for the demise of Western media, chanting: “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Western media will fall.”
U.S. Secret Service Communications Director Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement that “attendees can expect multi-layered security and screening at the dinner,” adding that there will be… Road closures were “intermittent” near the site.
Guglielmi added: “Concerning the highly publicized protest, we are working closely with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department to protect the right of individuals to assemble, but we will have zero tolerance for violating the law”.
After the dinner ended, two protesters holding signs reading “Stop Israeli Genocide” entered the hotel’s red carpet area as guests were leaving. They attacked attendees and were taken away by security.
The president has faced protesters demonstrating outside his official events, at times with demonstrators interrupt his speech. ReplyBiden’s team has worked to make the president’s events smaller and retain their exact locations longer than usual in hopes of reducing potential disruptions.
In the first day of this month, Palestinian journalist wrote an open post letters urged others to boycott the White House Correspondents’ Dinner “as an act of solidarity with us – your fellow journalists – as well as with the millions of Palestinians currently starving in Gaza”, points to the Biden administration’s support for Israel.
