It is tradition during the annual White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington where all the elite, journalists and celebrities are gathered, that the president listens, with a smile, as a comedian rips him off in front of an audience in tuxedos and dresses. long, then delivers a speech peppered with more or less successful jokes.
Although the guests were greeted in front of the Hilton hotel on Saturday evening by around a hundred demonstrators against the war in Gaza, the conflict was not in the spotlight during the evening.
On duty this year to laugh at the American president was comedian Colin Jost, author and actor for the flagship American television show “Saturday Night Live”, broadcast on NBC. His wife, actress Scarlett Johansson, was also present at the dinner on Saturday.
“I would like to point out that it is past 10 p.m., Sleepy Joe is still up, while Donald Trump spent the week falling asleep in court every morning,” said the comedian, in an allusion to the trial in New York from the former president for a case of hidden payments to a former porn actress.
Between self-deprecation and teasing the media, Joe Biden, 81, took the floor to mock his Republican rival, 77, explaining that “age is the only thing we have in common”.
“Yes, age is a subject”
Colin Jost and Joe Biden, however, adopted a more serious tone when addressing the question of the political climate in the United States. Donald Trump’s rhetoric poses a danger according to the US president, particularly after the assault on the Capitol in 2021, and “the stakes could not be higher”, according to him.
“The 2024 election is in full swing and yes, age is a subject,” said Joe Biden before saying: “I am an adult running against a six-year-old child.”
Meanwhile outside, the demonstration continued. The protesters managed to hang a Palestinian flag several meters long. Others were gathered below, at roadway level, holding signs or megaphones.
One of the groups that organized the demonstration in front of the Hilton hotel, Code Pink, said they wanted to “stop” the dinner to protest “the Biden administration’s complicity in the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli army,” specifying that this action would be “non-violent”. For months now, every time the American president travels, demonstrators gather to protest against the support for Israel of the man they call “Joe the genocidal”, and to demand an end to hostilities in Gaza. In addition, several Palestinian journalists had called in an open letter on their American colleagues to boycott this very popular event, the culmination of an entire weekend of social receptions.
“You have a special responsibility to speak the truth to the powerful and uphold journalistic integrity. It is unacceptable to remain silent, out of fear or for career reasons, when journalists in Gaza continue to be detained, tortured, and killed because they do their job,” wrote around twenty Palestinian journalists.
