By Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. president Joe Biden On Saturday night, he held an election-year roast at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, as demonstrators outside criticized his support for Israel’s war against Hamas.
Biden used the annual black-tie event to rebuke his Republican rival Donald Trump for immaturity, makes fun of his old age and takes on the Washington press corps.
“Yes, age is a problem. I’m a grown man taking on a six-year-old,” Biden joked.
Biden, 81, later added of former President Trump, 77: “Age is the only thing we have in common. My vice president actually supports me.”
Protesters carrying banners chanted about the deaths of journalists in Gaza outside the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual meeting. Hundreds of protesters encouraged journalists to boycott the event and shouted at government officials as they entered.
Biden avoided the large protests at the front of the hotel by arriving through a rear entrance, where he was greeted by smaller groups of demonstrators calling for a ceasefire.
The century-old event, often called Washington’s “nerd ball,” pitted hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities against each other in a vast hotel banquet room. It often includes friendly remarks from the president in a closing speech aimed at reporters and other guests in the audience.
Biden gave some advice to the press corps.
‘I sincerely ask you not to take sides. I ask you to recognize the gravity of the moment. “Get past the horse racing numbers and the gotcha moments, and the distractions, the side issues that have come to dominate and sensationalize our politics and focus on what’s really at stake,” Biden said.
This year’s event was hosted by “Saturday Night Live” cast member Colin Jost.
The grassroots movement CODEPINK marched to the site from a nearby park. “The US media perpetuates anti-Palestinian narratives and ignores Israeli war crimes,” the group said on its website.
A growing movement against the war in Gaza has followed Biden this year, including at a $250-per-ticket fundraiser at New York’s Radio City Music Hall that was disrupted by protesters.
Recently, that movement has expanded to college campuses across the US, signaling a growing revolt within the Democratic base that Biden needs to defeat Trump, who is now the Republican front-runner.
Kelly O’Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, declined to comment on security measures for the dinner.
“The safety and security of our protected individuals is the top priority of the U.S. Secret Service,” said U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Alexi Worley, who declined to comment further.
Israel’s six-month war against Hamas in Gaza, in response to the October 7 attack by the militant group in southern Israel, has killed more than 34,000 people and caused a humanitarian disaster for its more than 2 million residents, according to Palestinian health authorities of the enclave. million inhabitants.
According to Israeli figures, the Hamas attack in Israel killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostage.
The White House Correspondents Association was founded in 1914 and has hosted a dinner almost every year since 1921 to honor the reporters who cover the presidency and raise money for college scholarships.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Joey Roulette; Editing by Heather Timmons, Diane Craft, Deepa Babington and Jamie Freed)
