Biden, Trump and the Correspondents' Dinner at the White House

2024-04-27 18:23:51, Kosova & Bota CNA

Every year in April, the sitting president and the press gather at the White House for a dinner dominated by humor. Known as the 'White House Correspondents' Dinner', it is packed with famous figures and is an opportune moment to analyze how a president varies his speeches depending on the audience. VOA Correspondent Carolyn Presutti reports on the anticipation for this event in this election year.

Reporters host the Correspondents' Dinner at the White House, but the real stars are the president and the comedian chosen to entertain the audience. Sometimes, the president is a comedian.

"I have been criticized for avoiding Congress. Where is the problem here? A lot of things fly over the heads of lawmakers," said former President Ronald Reagan at the Correspondents' Dinner on April 17, 1986.

At the Correspondents' Dinner, there is humor with the sitting president, who responds with canned humor to White House-accredited reporters and their guests. Among the guests there are usually Hollywood stars and other celebrities.

"At the end of the day, I believe in the First Amendment. Not just because it was written by my good friend Jimmy Madison," President Biden said at the 2023 Correspondents' Dinner.

In this election year, the usual participants of this event expect President Biden to mention his political rival in his jokes.

"I think one of the main themes during his tenure has been the importance of democracy and its fragile nature in this particular period," says political scholar Martha Joynt.

This is an American tradition for every president. But in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was unable to attend the Correspondents' Dinner because of the wounds he received from an assassination attempt against him.

Since then, every president has attended the event, except former President Trump, who never attended during his term.

"I think he was not interested in participating in the event," says researcher Martha Joynt Kumar.

Especially after 2011, when then-businessman Donald Trump was the subject of a barrage of criticism from then-President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers.

"Donald Trump has said he's going to run for president as a Republican, which is surprising because I thought he was going to do that as a joke," said comedian Seth Meyers.

"No one is more willing to drop the birth certificate issue than 'The Donald'. That would give him the opportunity to focus on important issues, like faking the landing on the moon," President Obama said at the dinner. Correspondents in 2011.

Others say the criticism cemented his idea of ??entering the presidential race, which Mr. Trump has denied.

Most presidents mock the media and then take the opportunity to honor it.

"A free press is a pillar, perhaps the pillar of a free society, not the enemy," President Biden said.

Especially in a world where journalists can be jailed for making jokes about the president, as comedian Trevor Noah pointed out two years ago.

“Do you realize how amazing this is? Tonight I made fun of the president of the United States and everything will be fine with me...right?” he asked at the 2022 Correspondents' Dinner.

The advantages of democracy and a free press will again be in the center of attention in Washington on Saturday night./ VOA