President Joe Biden is venturing into the lion’s den this weekend at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
A tough gig before a tough crowd, Biden’s at-times tense relationship with the press will be placed to one side for one night, but that will not stop reporters and news executives from appraising his performance.
Biden was able to silence most Democratic critics concerned about his age and mental acuity before November’s general election against former President Donald Trump with his State of the Union address last month, at least for now. Since his State of the Union on March 7, Biden’s average job approval has improved from net negative 17 percentage points to net negative 15.5 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
But with Trump having a slight edge in national polls, per the same aggregator, Biden is under pressure to put his best foot forward when he steps behind the podium in front of roughly 2,600 people on Saturday night at the famed Washington Hilton.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has its own critics who contend it is an “incestuous event that shows the far too chummy connection between the powerful and the media that is supposed to cover them,” according to George Mason University political science professor Jeremy Mayer, who wrote the 2006 book American Media Politics in Transition.
“If you look at every WHCD dinner in the last 40 years, and I think I have, the most common theme in a president’s remarks is to poke fun at himself,” Mayer told the Washington Examiner. “They take something about themselves that the press and the public don’t like, a tic, a scandal, a problem — and lean into it. Reagan’s age. Biden’s age. Obama’s messianic complex.”
“The WHCD is an institution unlikely to affect any votes in November unless Biden makes a very insensitive joke about a voting group or demographic, has a major gaffe in his speaking or walking, or hits Trump too hard in a way that is perceived as petty, vicious, or deeply unfair,” he said. “Biden should stick to Trump’s hair, his ego, his thick orange pancake makeup, his flirtations with Nazis, his strange affection for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and similar topics.”
Rutgers University history, media studies, and journalism professor David Greenberg added, “Every once in a while, a funny WHCD appearance can give a president a very minor, short-term lift.”
The dinner has stirred political storms in tea cups for previous presidents and past White House Correspondents’ Association’s special guests. Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost is this year’s entertainment.
Amid Trump’s boycott of the annual dinner, which raises money for the WHCA and scholarships for aspiring journalists, during his administration, C-SPAN Radio cut short its broadcast of comedian Michelle Wolf’s 2018 routine because she was at risk of violating decency standards.
“I actually really like Sarah,” Wolf said of then-White House press secretary and now Gov. Sarah Sanders (R-AR). “I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.”
It was also at the 2011 dinner that former President Barack Obama mocked Trump for his birther conspiracy theories and role on The Apprentice reality TV show, some speculating that encouraged the real estate mogul to run for the White House. Trump was in the audience at the invitation of the Washington Post.
“We all know about your credentials and breadth of experience,” Obama told the crowd. “For example, no, seriously, just recently in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks.”
“There was a lot of blame to go around, but you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership, and so ultimately, you didn’t blame Little John or Meatloaf — you fired Gary Busey,” he said. “These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir.”
During last year’s dinner, Biden made light of his relationship with the press, comparing it to his “first two years in office” because he will “talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away,” a reference to what Republicans describe as his “basement strategy.” The president has avoided traditional, mainstream print outlets, opting instead to be interviewed by TV networks and the likes of the SmartLess podcast, co-hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.
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“You call me old?” Biden said, going on to mention former CNN anchor Don Lemon. “I call it being seasoned. You say I’m ancient? I say I’m wise. You say I’m over the hill?Don Lemon would say that’s a man in his prime.”
Biden is expected to underscore the importance of democracy, one of his 2020 and 2024 signature campaign themes, as he did during his remarks at the Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner last month, another media event. He is also likely to emphasize his first term’s accomplishments in the hope of a viral moment six months before Election Day.
