The President of the United States joked about criticism of his age, claiming to be “seasoned” and “wise.”
When the news crosses the Atlantic Ocean. France is set ablaze against retirement at 64 but Joe Biden, 80, “begs us” to stay four more years: the American president took and replied on Saturday to humorous spades about his age during the gala dinner of the White House correspondents.
This annual evening, which brings together all of Washington politicians and the media, celebrates in theory the first amendment to the American Constitution defending the freedom of the press. But in practice, we mostly remember the jokes.
Biden retorts
The comedian of the “Daily Show” Roy Wood Jr underlined the age of the American president who, candidate for his re-election, could remain in office until his 86 years in the event of victory. By mentioning the demonstrations in France against the pension reform.
“They rioted because they didn’t want to work until they were 64. Meanwhile, in America, we have an 80-year-old man begging us to work four more years,” he quipped , provoking a broad smile from the Head of State, seated a few meters away.
“‘Let me finish the job’: it’s not a campaign slogan, it’s a plea,” continued the comedian. “Say what you want about our president but when he wakes up from (his) nap, the job is done.”
“Call me old – I call that seasoned,” the president replied. “They say I’m an elder – I say I’m wise. They say I’m not so young anymore — Don Lemon would say I’m a man of early youth.”
Don Lemon, a star CNN anchor, was recently fired by the channel after he sparked controversy when he said Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, was “no longer young”.
The White House strongman also reserved a spade for Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old media mogul and owner of the conservative Fox News channel.
“You might think I don’t like Rupert Murdoch. That’s not true. How could I not like a man who makes me look like Harry Styles?”, joked the American president, in reference to the popstar 29 year old British.
Full house
The appeal of the Correspondents’ Dinner, held in the vast hall of the Washington Hilton, had waned somewhat in recent years, between Donald Trump’s boycott and the pandemic.
But this year the event was sold out, with 2,600 guests, including Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris. The presence of the two heads of the executive revives a tradition lost since the presidency of Donald Trump.
Before dinner, Biden had met with the family of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia. “We are working every day to secure his release,” he said.
Among the guests was basketball player Brittney Griner, two-time Olympic gold medalist and figure in the American LGBT+ community. Released at the end of 2022 after ten months of detention in Russia, she has sworn to fight for other people wrongfully detained around the world.
