WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, known for its amusing but scathing jokes about Washington, took on a more solemn tone this year after President Joe Biden admitted that several American journalists are being held. in authoritarian countries in different parts of the world.
“We are here to send a message to the country and, quite frankly, to the world: a free press is a pillar, perhaps the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy,” Biden said in his speech.
Upon arrival at the Washington Hilton for Saturday’s event, the president and first lady Jill Biden met privately with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been jailed in Russia since March. He was charged with espionage even though his employer and the US government strongly denied the charges. Some of the party guests wore “Free Evan” badges.
Also among the 2,600 attendees was Debra Tice, mother of Austin Tice, who has not been heard from since he disappeared at a roadblock in Syria in 2012. US authorities say they operate on the premise that he is alive and are working to take you back home.
“Journalism is not a crime. Evan and Austin must be released immediately, just like any other American detained abroad,” Biden said. “I promise you, I work (…) to bring them home,” she said with a nasty comment.
The Bidens also spoke with Brittney Griner, the WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist who was held in Russia for nearly 10 months last year before being released in a prisoner swap. Griner attended with her wife, Cherelle, as guests of CBS News.
“A year ago we were praying for you, Brittney,” Biden told the player.
The annual gala brought together a long list of celebrities and media moguls in Washington, with parties throughout the capital. Among the attendees were actor Liev Schreiber, singer John Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, a model and television commentator.
Actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the gala with a prerecorded video on the importance of a free and independent press, describing journalists as “allies of the people.” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sat onstage alongside comedian Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent for “The Daily Show” who did the lead monologue.
Although Biden devoted most of the speech to the issue of press freedom, he left time for jokes about his main political critics. It’s a familiar and comfortable date for Biden, who attended several of Barack Obama’s vice-presidential dinners. The event resumed last year after a two-year recess due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Biden was the first president in six years to accept the invitation, as Donald Trump declined to attend while he was in office.
But this year he arrived not only as commander in chief but also as a candidate for reelection.
He began his taunts with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, attacking him over a recent Republican-passed bill that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a series of budget cuts, some of which affect major achievements. Biden legislatures.
“The last time Republicans voted for something this unfortunate it took 15 tries,” Biden said, an allusion to McCarthy’s uphill battle to become House speaker in January.
He didn’t stop there and mentioned the age of Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch. “And they call me old?” he told the crowd.
Biden also laughed at himself, especially about the criticism of his age as he prepares for his second election campaign. “I believe in the First Amendment, and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” he said to laughter from the guests.
Wood, who spoke after Biden, also pointed to the president’s age.
“We must be inspired by the events in France. They rioted when the retirement age was raised by two years to 64,” Wood said. “Meanwhile, in the United States we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years.”