White House Correspondents’ Dinner Held Amid Israel-Hamas Conflict Protests; Biden Makes Age Jokes and Critiques Congress

President Joe Biden attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner alongside politicians, journalists and celebrities for a comedic roast during an election year. The event took place against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts between Israel and Hamas as well as protests regarding US support for Israel and Western media coverage of the war. Protesters outside condemned Biden’s stance on these issues while accusing journalists of not covering it enough or misrepresenting it when they do cover it, chanting “Shame on you!” and “Free Palestine”. Inside the event, President Biden made jokes about his age as well as taking shots at former president Donald Trump. He also criticised accusations that Congress is political theatre before discussing Representative Lauren Boebert being kicked out of a theater for groping her date last year. Media outlets have been critical of Biden’s lack of interviews with mainstream news media, and he has instead chosen to speak with radio host Howard Stern and late-night show host Seth Meyers. Comedian Colin Jost delivered the roast during which jokes were aimed at Trump’s legal cases and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s chances of winning. Jest compared Biden to Obama, commenting that while Obama got Bin Laden, “you got OJ”. He also joked about instances where Biden fell down stairs on Air Force One before concluding by stating that some of Biden’s best qualities reminded him of his grandfather and commented on how at 95 years old, he was still great with stairs because he didn’t try to run up them.