Biden Readies Humorous Speech at White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Approval Ratings Drop

President Joe Biden is set to speak at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, continuing a tradition dating back to Calvin Coolidge of presidents addressing the event during their term. While former President Donald Trump did not attend as president, he had previously been in attendance as a private citizen. In recent weeks, Biden has showcased his sense of humor by taking jabs at Trump and making fun of various aspects related to him such as hair loss, plummeting stock prices for Trump’s social media company, and the sale of Trump-branded Bibles aimed at stealing attention from his criminal trial. The stakes are high for Biden given that approval ratings have been dropping in recent weeks, raising questions about whether he has the mental acuity to handle the task. In preparation for Saturday night’s event, Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign and a Hollywood mogul who once led content studio Dreamworks, helped lead daily strategy sessions with top administration officials in the White House residence this week. The group debated the humor to include at the expense of political figures during Friday’s marathon session which lasted approximately four hours after President Biden returned from New York City for an event reception. While Katzenberg advised on messaging, he also helped fine-tune jokes and delivery techniques with longtime speechwriter Vinay Reddy. The group’s ultimate objective is to spread comedy jabs evenly between the parties at both the White House Correspondents’ Association as well as SNL star Colin Jost, who will be hosting this year’s event in NBC’s entertainment division. Biden has been taking more comedic shots at Trump recently and it seems likely that he will continue doing so during his Saturday night speech after reaching consensus with senior officials earlier than past years to give the president plenty of time to prepare. In 2011, President Barack Obama mocked Donald Trump’s “birther” conspiracy theory while hosting the event as a guest before running for office himself in 2015. This year’s dinner will be streamed live on CSPAN and CNN plans to air special coverage featuring Biden’s remarks and Jost’s performance.