Washington(CNN) President Joe Biden joked about a variety of topics at the White House Correspondents’ dinner on Saturday but the tone was serious as he called for the release of Americans wrongfully detained overseas.
The annual dinner, hosted inside the Washington Hilton, drew thousands of guests in support of press freedom, something Biden called “a pillar of a free society, not the enemy .”
Here are the top moments from this year’s dinner.
Biden called for the release of wrongfully imprisoned Americans
Biden used the opportunity to address a crowd gathered to support press freedom to send a clear message: “Journalism is not a crime.”
He began his remarks on a serious note and then addressed the wrongful detentions of American journalists Evan Gershkovich in Russia and Austin Tice in Syria, reassuring the room full of reporters and the families of those prisoners that his administration is committed to bringing them home.
“I promise you, I’m working like hell to get them home,” Biden said.
In attendance Saturday night was Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was released from Russia late last year after being wrongfully imprisoned. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden held a pull-aside meeting with Griner and his wife at the event, each White House pool.
The president and First Lady also met privately with the family of Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who the US State Department deemed “wrongfully detained” by Russia. Many journalists in attendance wore pins to call for his release.
The daughter of jailed Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, Dasha Navalnaya, told CNN earlier Saturday that the White House Correspondents’ dinner represented an important event for those who were wrongfully detained because “America as a country represents freedom of speech, freedom of political expression.”
Roy Wood Jr. pointed out. Washington
Comedian Roy Wood Jr., best known for his role on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” didn’t hold back on his political grilling in Washington Saturday night, saving the jabs for both parties.
He then responded to the classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home, telling the president as he walked away from the podium, “Real quick, Mr. President.
Wood also pointed to protests in France in response to the government raising the retirement age. “While in America, we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years of work,” he quipped, referring to Biden’s reelection.
But the comedian went on to call former President Donald Trump the “king of scandals.”
“Keeping up with Trump’s scandals is like watching the Star Wars movies,” he said. “You have to watch the third to understand the first, then you’ve got — you can’t miss the second because there are Easter eggs for the fifth.”
Biden laughed at Trump
Biden’s jokes, meanwhile, include several quips aimed at his predecessor’s recent scandals.
He joked that he was offered $10 to keep his comments under ten minutes. “That’s a switch, a president being offered hush money,” he joked in reference to Trump’s accusation of an alleged hush money scheme.
Biden also mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is likely to be the primary candidate for the GOP presidential nomination if he enters the race in 2024.
“A lot of Ron DeSantis jokes at the ready, but Mickey Mouse beats the hell out of me, he’s out there first,” Biden said.
Disney filed a lawsuit against the governor and his oversight board earlier this week, accusing him of punishing the company for exercising free speech rights over his political influence.
The reporters celebrated and jeered
The White House Correspondents’ dinner honored several journalists for their impact on the job last year, including CNN’s Phil Mattingly for his coverage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington and Politico’s publication of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion. which would later overturn Roe v. Wade.
While Biden also praised the journalists for their work, he mocked their tough questions.
“I get that age is a completely reasonable issue, it’s on everybody’s mind,” he said, referring to his reelection bid. “By all I mean the New York Times.”
Biden also joked about how he avoids questions from the media. “In many ways, this dinner summed up my first two years in office: I would talk for 10 minutes, take no questions and leave happy.”
In recent weeks, the media industry has taken a number of hits — from high-profile terminations to layoffs, something Wood pointed out.
“The untouchable Tucker Carlson is out of a job,” Wood said, referring to the anchor’s departure from Fox News, prompting applause.
“Okay, some people celebrate it,” he replied. “But to Tucker’s staff, I want you to note that I know how you feel. I work at the Daily Show, so I was also blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program. ”
Celebrities appear
Saturday’s event saw a number of celebrities in attendance, including model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen and her husband, singer John Legend.
Actress Julia Fox posed with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer while actress Rosario Dawson and actors Liev Schreiber and Billy Eichner all took turns on the red carpet.
During the event, identical twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott, who host HGTV’s “Property Brothers,” laughed out loud as their sketch-style video showed how they renovated the White House.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time and we think we know how to make the White House the White Home,” the pair said in the video.
CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
