During Saturday's star-studded White House correspondents' association dinner, President Joe Biden went joke for joke with comedian host, Roy Wood Jr., setting an example for the importance of maintaining a good sense of humor amidst chaos and turmoil.
In the world of politics, mud will sling and heads will roll. If you can smile and laugh while ducking and weaving, you've got a jump on the opposition. And in Biden's case, wise-cracks made during points of levity at the event actually landed, which is so often not the case when Republicans fumble for shtick at their own events — gatherings equivalent to one big joke with the punchline somehow always ending up the "F-Slur."
Addressing an audience consisting of Julia Fox, Chuck Schumer, Kelly Ripa, Ke Huy Quan, Angelica Ross, Brittney Griner, members of the "Vanderpump Rules" cast — to name a few — Biden took to the podium wearing a variation of his signature shades and let 'er rip, delivering quips about his age, Elon Musk and the GOP.
"Look, I get that age is a completely reasonable issue," he said. "You might think I don't like Rupert Murdoch. That's simply not true. How can I dislike a guy who makes me look like Harry Styles?"
Further into his time, Biden worked in a jab at Tucker Carlson being canned from Fox News saying, "This dinner is one of the two great traditions in Washington. The other one is underestimating me and Kamala. But the truth is, we really have a record to be proud of. Vaccinated the nation, transformed the economy, urged historic victories and mid-term results. But the job isn't finished. I mean... it is finished for Tucker Carlson."
Wood Jr. got in a few good ones during the diner as well. One that stands out as a particular crowd-pleaser riffed on Trump's Mar-a-Lago ordeal in which he was found in possession of many classified documents that had been removed from the White House.
"Real quick, Mr. President, I think you left some of your classified documents up here," he joked towards Biden.
"Say what you want about our president, but when you wake up from that nap, work gets done," Wood Jr. said elsewhere in the evening.
Making commentary on the Republican obsession with "protecting" children from drag queens, Wood Jr. later made the the remark, "Drag queens are not at a school to groom your kids. Stop it. And even if they were, most of them kids are going to get shot at school."
Watch select clips, including Biden's commentary in full, below:
.@roywoodjr just DESTROYED Clarence Thomas at the White House Correspondents Dinner and it was AMAZING. pic.twitter.com/GspS8x5sAV
— Andrew Wortman (@AmoneyResists) April 30, 2023
“Got caught up like that dude on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’” #PumpRules mentioned during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner ☠️ #WHCD pic.twitter.com/zLU8uJX9dN
— Gibson Johns (@gibsonoma) April 30, 2023
