President Joe Biden took broad shots at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, mixing up critics of Don Lemon, Fox News and his advancing age.
"I understand that age is a very reasonable question. It's on everyone's mind. By the world, I mean The New York Times . Caption: "Biden's aging is a big issue. Trump is not," Biden mocked a recent op-ed in the newspaper that the president should take voters' concerns about his age seriously.
"You call me old? I call me spicy. You say I'm old. I say I'm wise. You say I'm at the top of the hill. Don Lemon looks like a man in his prime," the president said, referring to the CNN fired angel. Lemon was heavily criticized for saying that presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, is not at her best.
"I believe in the First Amendment," added Biden, 80, "and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it."
The president also called Fox News and several other news outlets.
“You might think I don't like Rupert Murdoch. That is simply not true. How can I not love a guy who makes me look like Harry Styles? said Biden. The president joked that he had outbid Tucker Carlson and recalled Fox News' recent deal with Dominion Voting Systems, saying the polling company "owns" Fox.
"Last year, our beloved Fox News reporters were able to participate because they were fully immunized and empowered. This year, with this $787 million deal, they're here because they couldn't say no to a free meal. Fox was "honest, honest, and forthright, but then I can be sued for defamation," said the president, whose goal was to make Fox reporters "laugh harder than CNN when they read the deal." "Wow, they really have 787s for a million dollars."
The president has also joked about recent criticism of his rare speeches. "In many ways, this dinner concludes my first two years in office. I'm going to talk for 10 minutes, I'm not going to take any questions and I'm going to leave happy," Biden explained.
Outside the Washington Hilton hotel, activists protested Biden's approach to climate change, saying it was not aggressive enough. But that didn't stop the fun on Saturday.
Comedian Roy Wood, on the other hand, mocked Biden, introducing himself by saying: "Too soon, Mr. President, I think you left some of your classified documents here."
Wood also joked that there is no scandal "Is Joe Biden awake?" it was no more harmful than the question.
The comedian couldn't resist poking fun at Fox himself: "They look good. I've been watching all night… It seems like everybody has money at Fox News," Wood said.
In his speech, Biden took the opportunity to take seriously and defend journalists kidnapped by tyrannical regimes around the world. "A free press is a pillar of a free society," Biden said.
"Journalism is not a crime. Evan [Gerskovich] and Austin [Tice] must be released immediately, along with all other Americans held hostage and wrongfully imprisoned abroad,” the president said, referring to the two journalists detained in Russia and Syria.
Biden called on Russia to release sailor Paul Whelan and gave a standing ovation to Brittney Griner, who attended a dinner following the release of a prisoner swap from Russia earlier this year.
