Noting that he was the first CEO to attend the event – a charitable fundraiser supporting journalism scholarships – since then-President Barack Obama attended in 2016, Biden said it was understandable that no president had attended in the years since. . “We had a horrible plague followed by two years of Covid,” he said. Referring to Mr. Trump’s presence at the 2011 event, when Mr. Obama was sarcastically mocking him, Biden asked attendees to imagine if Mr. Trump had been persuaded to attend this year. “Now this would be a real coup if it happened,” he said, scoffing at Trump’s attempt to overthrow Biden’s 2020 election. In another apparent excavation of his predecessor, Biden said that American democracy is not a “reality show.” Mr. Biden also made a significant part of his remarks by mocking himself, joking that “he had just been elected to the Senate” the first time a U.S. president – Calvin Coolidge – attended the annual dinner in 1924 (Mr. Biden was elected Senate in 1972). The president also took a look at Fox News, which hosted anti-vaccine messages, noting that all attendees needed to be vaccinated and strengthened. “I know there are other questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of Covid. Well, we are here to show the country that we are going through this pandemic. In addition, everyone had to prove that they were fully vaccinated and fortified. So if you’re at home watching this video and wondering how to do it, contact your favorite Fox News reporter. Everyone is here. Vaccinated and strengthened! ” said Mr. Biden. On a more serious note, Mr. Biden announced coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We have all seen the courage of the Ukrainian people because of the courage of the American reporters in this room, and of your colleagues around the world who are on the ground, taking their lives into their own hands,” Biden said. “You, the free press, are more important than ever in the last century,” he added.
