Biden jokes about low approval rating during White House Correspondents’ Dinner – New York Post

WASHINGTON — President Biden cracked jokes before more than 2,000 guests on Saturday at the revived White House Correspondents’ Dinner as DC’s biggest annual party returned after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Special thanks to the 42 percent of you that actually applauded,” Biden said as he took the stage.

“I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have.”

The dinner for reporters, officials and celebrities at the Washington Hilton featured entertainment from “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah and remarks from a sitting president for the first time since 2016.

“This is the first time the president attended this dinner in six years. It’s understandable, we had a horrible plague — followed by two years of COVID,” Biden said in apparent reference to former President Donald Trump, who never attended the event while in office.

“Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now that would have been a real coup if that occurred.”

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson, Olympic medalist Caitlyn Jenner and Martha Stewart were among the guests at the $350-per-seat bash.

The black tie gala took place despite concerns it could be one of the pandemic’s great super-spreaders. More than 10 percent of attendees at DC’s similar but much smaller and snootier Gridiron Club dinner this month caught the coronavirus.

The dinner kicked off a night of festivities and commanded significant red-carpet attention for the first time since the Obama administration.

Attendees were required to provide proof of vaccination and a same-day negative COVID-19 rapid test, but Biden did not eat to limit his possible exposure to COVID-19, the White House said.

Steven Portnoy, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, welcomed guests to “the biggest annual celebration of journalism, scholarship and self-effacing humor” in comments after dinner.

“We are grateful for the vaccines, the therapies, the tests that make it possible for us to be here tonight,” he said. “And we are pleased to have the president in attendance here with us, which restores a tradition of this dinner that dates back to Calvin Coolidge in 1924.”

He then showed a picture of Biden superimposed in attendance at that first dinner, to chuckles from the crowd and president.

Portnoy went on to say that Biden first attended the dinner in 1974 at table 82.

“Tonight you don’t look a table over 79,” Portnoy quipped.

After joking about his own approval rating and age, Biden took some shots at his Republican colleagues.

“I’m not really here to roast the GOP, that’s not really my style. Besides, there’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape,” the president said, in reference to the audio leaked of Kevin McCarthy saying he planned to ask Trump to resign following the Jan. 6, 2020 Capitol riot.

“At the same time, people say the Republican Party’s too extreme, too divisive, too controlled by one person. They say this is not your father’s Republican Party,” Biden continued. 

“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 of it,” he said about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ effort to revoke Disney’s special tax district over the company’s opposition to the state’s recently enacted law critics have tagged the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

“But Republicans seem to support one fella — some guy named Brandon,” he joked about conservatives’ cheeky “Let’s Go Brandon” rally cry, to cheers.  “He’s having a really good year, and I’m happy for him.”

Toward the end of his address, the president took on a more serious tone, claiming that the “liberal world order” established across the globe to ensure peace after World War II is “genuinely, seriously under assault,” while at home, “poison is running through our democracy.”

“All of this is taking place with misinformation massively on the rise, where the truth is buried by lies and the lies live on as truth. What’s clear, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, that you, the free press, matter more than you ever did in the last century.”

The White House administration came under heavy fire from conservatives earlier this week for establishing the “Disinformation Governance Board” under Biden’s Homeland Security department — which was blasted as a means for the government to police free speech online.

“The industry is changing significantly,” Biden said Saturday. “There’s incredible pressure on you all to deliver heat instead of shed light because technology is changing so much, the system is changing. But it matters. The truth matters. American Democracy is not a reality show.”

Noah followed the president’s speech, where he thanked the WCHA for inviting him to speak at “the nation’s most distinguished super-spreader event ever.”

Biden claimed during his speech that all attendees had to vaccinated and boosted, however attendees were only required to show proof of one vaccination shot.

“For real people, what are we doing here, let’s be honest. Did you learn anything from the Gridiron Dinner? Like do you read any of your own newspapers?” He joked about the dinner earlier this month where over 70 lawmakers, White House officials and reporters contracted the virus.

“You guys here spent the last two years telling everyone the importance of wearing masks and avoiding large, indoor gatherings. And then the second someone offers you a free dinner you all turn into Joe Rogan,” the comedian said.

Noah took a shot at former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who was fired from the network following sexual misconduct allegations and after it was revealed he secretly aided the defense of his embattled older brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“Some people think that this [dinner] shows that the media is too cozy with politicians, but what those people don’t understand is that you guys have integrity. You would never allow personal connections to affect your ability to be good journalists — isn’t that right Chris Cuomo. Where is Chris Cuomo, by the way, is he here?”

The comic joked about inflation, telling Biden, “I think ever since you’ve come into office things are really looking up — gas is up, rent is up, food is up. Everything.”

He also mentioned Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who has come under fire for his alleged business dealings overseas.

“You guys are relentless and everyday you demand answers on the pressing issues of the day — and then Fox News asks about Hunter Biden,” he said. “And I’ll be honest, I actually think that’s a good thing, I really do. I think people need to be held accountable if they’re using their dad’s name to get ahead in life. And I can’t think of anyone better to ask than Peter Doocy,” calling out the Fox News correspondent and son of Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy.