President Joe Biden mocked his own low approval rating and called the Trump administration a ‘horrible plague’ as members of the press poked fun at him during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
‘Tonight, we come here to answer a very important question in everybody’s mind. Why in hell are we still doing this?’ Biden quipped as he took the stage in the room full of journalists and D.C. insiders.
‘I know there are questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we’re here to show the country that we’re getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone had to prove they’re fully vaccinated and boosted,’ he said. ‘Just contact your favorite Fox News reporter they’re all here vaccinated and boosted.’
He then addressed his historically low poll numbers for the first time, claiming that journalists were the only people who were less well-liked.
‘I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans have a lower approval rating than I have,’ Biden said.
However, Biden wasn’t the only one to embrace comedy at Saturday’s affair. The Late Late Show James Corden opened the dinner with a sketch of him taking over the duties of Press Secretary Jen Psaki, which included a cameo from a reporter she regularly clashes with, Fox News’ Peter Doocy.
Comedian Trevor Noah mocked the administration for rising inflation rates and took jabs at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ possible presidential candidacy after the state banned dozens of math books earlier this month.
Corden eagerly took to the podium to take questions from reporters following a briefing with Psaki and Biden, but the ill-prepared Corden was immediately flanked with complicated questions from reporters.
Among them was Doocy, who Biden was recorded calling a ‘stupid son of a b****’ in January, with Psaki echoing similar remarks earlier this month. Biden reportedly called Doocy afterwards to apologize.
Despite the critical comments from them, Doocy played his part in Corden’s sketch on Saturday, appearing straight-forward and no-nonsense as he took on the fumbling comedian.
Doocy asks the ‘interim-press secretary’, ‘When the president says one thing, and White House staff say something else, who are we supposed to listen to? The president, or White House staff?’
‘Well you know what, David,’ the comedian, appearing fed up by the questions from all the reporters.
‘That’s not my name,’ Doocy quickly replies.
‘You say your name is not David. I say your name is David,’ Corden snaps back.
‘And I’m stood up here and you’re sat down there – unless you wanna be sat at the back with whoever they are’ Corden added as he threatened to move Doocy to the far-end of the press room.
Corden’s sketch also involved digs at the Biden administration as Psaki told him that the CDC is ‘good,’ to which he replies, ‘Really? ‘They’ve been pissing me off.’
Psaki also tells him that the economy is strong, with Corden again questioning the validity of the statement.
‘Is it,’ he asks doubtfully as Psaki moves on to the rest of the briefing.
Psaki was in a live taping of the Pod Save America podcast on April 14 when she was recorded criticizing Doocy and Fox News, saying: ‘He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b***h.’
The Press Secretary has since stressed that she was not deliberately attempting to insult the Fox News White House correspondent, but instead criticizing the news outlet.
Following the insult, Psaki tweeted: ‘Full video shows I also told a story about Peter’s grace last night and made very clear I was not being critical of him or any reporter at Fox, and instead was critical of the slant of some Fox topics.
‘He is doing his job. I am doing mine. We debate. We disagree. I respect that.’
Despite the insults from the president and press secretary, Doocy has remained composed and said he would just like to move forward after he accepted Biden’s apology.
Also at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Trevor Noah slammed the administration for rising consumer costs, taking aim at what analysts predict is a looming recession.
The Daily Show Host touted Biden for coming out to the event on Saturday, saying he doesn’t know why the president would miss a chance to hear all about his supposed accomplishments.
‘You know, I think ever since you’ve come into office, things are really looking up. Gas is up. Rent is up. Food is up. Everything,’ Noah joked about inflation, which is at the highest it’s been in 40 years.
Noah also took aim at Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, and used the former Republican president as a gateway to roast DeSantis.
‘[If] Trump was the original Terminator, DeSantis is like the T-1000,’ Noah said of the Florida governor. ‘You’re smarter than him, you’re slicker than him, you can walk down ramps.
‘Because you see, Trump said he won the election, but everyone was just able to look at the numbers and see he was wrong.
‘That’s why Ron DeSantis is one step ahead,’ Noah said, referencing the fact that Florida tossed out 41 percent of the 132 math textbooks submitted for the next school year, more than half of which the state said referenced Critical Race Theory (CRT), with the rest containing Common Core and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
‘First you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes,’ Noah quipped. ‘Boom, my man!’
Saturday night’s event – attended by reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson, and other big stars including Drew Barrymore, Martha Stewart, Chris Tucker and Academy Award-winning actor Michael Keaton – saw Biden mock himself by addressing his low approval rating of 41.7 and his predecessor, Donald Trump.
‘Well, that’s hard to say after what we just saw this the first time President attended this dinner in six years.’
‘Well that’s understandable – we had a horrible plague, followed by two years of COVID,’ the president added.
‘Imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now that would really have been a real coup that occurred!’
Biden then turned his attention to Republicans, and the leaked tapes of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy claiming he would ask President Trump to resign after January 6.
‘Folks, I’m not really here to roast the GOP. That’s not my style. Besides, there’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape,’ Biden said to a room full of chuckles.
‘At the same time, a lot of people say the Republican Party’s too extreme too divisive to control by one person. They say that’s not your father’s Republican Party. Ronald Reagan said Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down. Today’s Republicans say ‘Tear down Mickey Mouse’s house.’
‘And pretty soon they’ll be storming Cinderella’s castle. You can be sure that Republicans seem to support one fella. Some guy named Brandon. He’s having a really good year. I’m kind of happy for him,’ Biden said, referring to conservative rallying cry ‘Let’s Go Brandon.’
Biden then introduced comedian Trevor Noah, who is headlining the event, who mocked the large maskless gathering.
‘It is my great honor to be speaking tonight at the nation’s most distinguished super spreader events,’ Noah said. ‘No for real people. What are we doing here? Let’s be honest. What are we doing? Like did none of you learn anything from the Grid Iron Dinner?’
Dozens of high-profile attendees tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the exclusive media event weeks earlier.
‘Do you read any of your own newspapers? I mean, I expect this from Sean Hannity, but the rest of you What are you doing?,’ he added.
‘I spent the last two years telling everyone the importance of wearing masks and avoiding large indoor gatherings. Then the second someone offers you a free dinner you’ll turn into Joe Rogan. I mean, Dr. Fauci dropped out,’ Noah said.
‘That should have been a pretty big sign. Fauci thought it was too dangerous to come tonight. Pete Davidson thinks it’s okay,’ Noah said, pointing to Kim Kardashian’s date.
Noah then turned his focus to the president.
‘As you all know, President Biden’s lack of a filter does get him into hot water sometimes, you know, last month he caused a huge international incidents saying that Vladimir Putin should be removed from power was very, very upsetting to Russia,’ Noah said. ‘So someone explained to them that none of the stuff Biden wants actually gets done.’
In late March Biden made waves by proclaiming Russian Leader Vladimir Putin ‘cannot remain in power,’ remarks that the Kremlin replayed on state TV airwaves as a personal attack on Russia.