President Joe Biden displayed self-deprecation on Saturday while sniping his US presidential rival Donald Trump, a “six-year-old”, at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an event that sparked a protest against the war in Gaza on its outskirts.
Many distinguished guests, journalists and celebrities, arrived at the Hilton hotel in the federal capital at a time when around a hundred demonstrators were gathered near the entrance. Some protesters then chanted slogans such as “Shame on you”.
Inside the building, however, the war between Hamas and Israel did not take center stage, unlike the mockery over Joe Biden’s age or his occasional falls down the stairs of the presidential plane.
The presence of the American leader at this annual gala is part of the long tradition of the event, interrupted during the mandate of his predecessor Donald Trump, which wants the president to listen, with a smile, to a comedian tearing him down in order in front of an assembly in tuxedos and long dresses, then delivers a speech peppered with more or less successful jokes.
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, Mr. Biden, 81, took the floor to mock his Republican rival, 77, explaining that “age is the only thing we have in common.”
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.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration
“The 2024 election is in full swing and yes age is a subject,” Mr. Biden said before launching: “I’m an adult running against a six-year-old.”
Far from the laughter of the audience roaming the room, a demonstration took place in front of the hotel, from where, from a window on the top floor, protesters hung a Palestinian flag several meters long. Others were gathered below, at roadway level, holding signs or megaphones.
The gala dinner was held as the protest movement against the war in Gaza becomes widespread on American campuses, with hundreds of arrests and the deployment of riot police.
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 complicity of the Biden government 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 “Genocidal Joe”, and to demand an end to hostilities in Gaza.
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.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an association based in New York, at least 97 journalists have been killed since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, including 92 Palestinians. At least 16 others were injured.
The dinner was hosted by the White House Correspondents Association. This annual event also gives rise to an awards ceremony and the distribution of scholarships to journalism students.
Last year, 2,600 guests attended the event.
