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U.S. President Joe Biden meets Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 15, 2024.
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U.S. President Joe Biden meets Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 15, 2024.
Evan Bucci/AP
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said at a weekend Washington roast that the big news this week was that two candidates have clinched the party's presidential nomination. But one was too old and mentally unfit for the job, he said.
“The other person is me.” Biden quipped:
Revelations about Republican Donald Trump continued to come from the president at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner, with Biden ignoring ongoing criticism that his memory appears hazy and confused and instead highlighting moments when the 77-year-old Trump stumbled. do.
“Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama,” Biden, 81, said.
This is the first time Biden has attended the dinner while president, and it comes as the 2024 election approaches and a rematch between Biden and Trump heats up. The annual Bacchanalia, now in its 139th year, dates back to 1885. That was the year President Grover Cleveland refused to attend. Every president since then has visited at least one Gridiron.
But Biden quickly took a somber turn, highlighting what he sees as a real threat to democracy if Trump, who continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen, returns to the White House. The speech reflected Biden's campaign comments, criticizing Trump and being too soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are living in an unprecedented moment in democracy,” he said. “This is an unprecedented moment in history. Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. President Putin is marching through Europe. My predecessor bowed to President Putin and told him, ‘Do whatever you want.’”
Biden then introduced Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markalova and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas.
“We will not bow down,” he said, “nor will they bow down, nor will I bow down.”
Biden, dressed in a white tie as per custom, brought his daughter Ashley with him.
The dinner is known for being a night of bipartisan glee, with Washington politicians and politicians including Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, at least eight other Cabinet members, and at least five members of Congress. It was full of characters. , at least 5 governors and 5 ambassadors. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, a local Irishman, was also in attendance for St Patrick's Day.
Also speaking at the dinner were Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican.
Biden concluded the dinner by also speaking about the importance of a free press. He may not agree with everything printed in the news media, but he understands the need for journalism and is still working to bring home Evan Gershovich and Austin Tice, one of whom is detained in Russia and the other who went missing while on a reporting trip. I said there is. In Syria.
“Good journalism is a mirror of society,” he said. “We need you.”
Biden and Harris sat at the head table with other administration officials and foreign leaders, as well as Dan Balz, president of Gridiron at the Washington Post. Also seated at the table were Balz's boss, Post editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee and the paper's owner, Jeff Bezos.
The dinner was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. No photos or TV allowed.