President Joe Biden described his presidential rival Donald Trump as a “six-year-old child” this Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an event that brought together a protest against the war in Gaza outside the event. .
Many illustrious guests, journalists and celebrities arrived at the Hilton hotel in the federal capital while a hundred protesters gathered near the entrance. Some protesters then chanted slogans against Biden’s foreign policy and his support for Israel in its offensive on Gaza.
Inside the building, however, the war between Hamas and Israel did not take center stage, unlike the mockery about Joe Biden’s age or his occasional falls down the stairs of the presidential plane.
The presence of the American leader at this annual gala is part of the long tradition of the event, interrupted during the mandate of his predecessor Donald Trump, who wants the president to listen, with a smile, to a scathing criticism of his presidency, performed by a comedian , before an auditorium full of tuxedos and long dresses, to later deliver a speech peppered with more or less successful jokes.
This year, the person in charge of making fun of the American president was the comedian Colin Jost, author and actor of the emblematic American television program “Saturday Night Live”, broadcast on NBC. His wife, actress Scarlett Johansson, was also present at Saturday’s dinner.
“I would like to point out that it is after 10 p.m., sleepy Joe is still awake, while Donald Trump spent the week falling asleep in court every morning,” said the comedian, referring to the trial in New York of the former president for a case of hidden payments to a former porn actress.
Between self-criticism and ridicule from the media, Biden, 81, took the floor to mock his Republican rival, 77, and explained that “age is the only thing we have in common.”
Colin Jost and Joe Biden, however, took a more serious tone when addressing the issue of the political climate in the United States. Donald Trump’s rhetoric poses a danger according to the American president, especially after the assault on the Capitol in 2021, and “the stakes are high” according to him.
“The 2024 election is in full swing and yes, age is an issue,” Biden said before saying, “I’m an adult running against a six-year-old.”
Far from the laughter of the public wandering around the room, a demonstration took place in front of the hotel, in which protesters hung a Palestinian flag several meters long. While those gathered in the street sent their message with signs or megaphones.
The gala dinner came as the protest movement against the war in Gaza spreads across American universities, with hundreds of arrests and the deployment of riot police.
One of the groups that organized the demonstration in front of the Hilton hotel, Code Pink, said it wanted to “stop” the dinner to protest “the Biden administration’s complicity in the attacks and murders of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli army,” specifying that this action would be “nonviolent.”
For months now, whenever the American president travels, demonstrators have gathered to protest the support for Israel of the man they call “Genocide Joe,” and to demand an end to hostilities in Gaza.
Several Palestinian journalists had asked their American colleagues in an open letter to boycott this very popular event, the culmination of an entire weekend of social receptions.
“They have a special responsibility to tell the truth to the powerful and defend journalistic integrity. It is unacceptable to remain silent, out of fear or for professional reasons, when journalists in Gaza continue to be detained, tortured and killed because they are doing so. their work,” wrote about twenty Palestinian journalists.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based association, at least 97 journalists have been killed since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, including 92 Palestinians. At least 16 other people were injured.
The dinner was hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association. This annual event also gives rise to an awards ceremony and the distribution of scholarships to journalism students.
Last year 2,600 guests attended the event.
