Protesters stand firm outside White House dinner as Biden turns to stand-up inside
President jokes about Trump’s age to lighten mood at event after guests arrive to chants of ‘shame’
JOE BIDEN took aim at Donald Trump’s age and legal woes at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an event ultimately overshadowed by Israel’s war in Gaza.
“The 2024 election’s in full swing and yes, age is an issue,” Mr Biden said. “I’m a grown man running against a six-year-old.”
The US president has recently ramped up his attacks on Mr Trump, marking a shift in strategy as the
November election draws closer.
“Age is the only thing we have in common,” Mr Biden, 81, said of Mr Trump, 77. “My vice president actually endorses me,” he said in a swipe at the decision of Mike Pence, the former vice-president, not to back Mr Trump.
The US president also poked fun at Mr Trump’s legal woes – despite forbidding his aides from talking publicly about his rivals’ trials.
“Donald has had a few tough days lately. You might call it ‘stormy’ weather,” Mr Biden said, referencing the case against Stormy Daniels, who claims to have received a hush-money payment for having sex with Mr Trump in 2006.
The annual event is famed for presidents, journalists and comedians poking fun at political scandals and each other, and this year was attended by screen and stage stars including Da’vine Joy Randolph, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm and Chris Pine.
But despite the jest inside the room, the event was overshadowed by the Gaza war, with guests arriving to chants of “Shame on you” by hundreds of protesters. Demonstrators condemned Mr Biden for his support of Israel’s military campaign and Western news outlets for what they said was biased coverage and misrepresentation of the conflict.
Some wore press vests with the names of more than 100 Palestinian journalists who have been killed in Gaza. Before the event, dozens of Palestinian journalists in Gaza released a public letter calling on colleagues in the US to boycott the dinner.
Protesters cried “Free, free Palestine” and cheered when someone inside the Washington Hilton – where the dinner has been held for decades – unfurled a Palestinian flag from a top-floor hotel window.
Yet, Mr Biden’s 10-minute speech made no mention of the ongoing war or the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The president instead focused on the upcoming election, only striking a serious note to say that another Trump administration would be even more harmful to the US than his first term.
“We have to take this serious – eight years ago we could have written it off as ‘Trump talk’ but not after January 6,” he added, referring to the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election.
“I’m sincerely not asking you to take sides,” he said to his 2,600 guests.
“I’m asking you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment,” he added. “Move past the horse-race numbers and the gotcha moments, and the distractions, the sideshows that have come to dominate and sensationalise our politics and focus on what’s actually at stake.”
‘I’m asking you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment. Move past the ... distractions’