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White House Correspondents' dinner live: Barack Obama gives his final comedy speech of his presidency
White House Correspondents' dinner live: Barack Obama gives his final comedy speech of his presidency
(35 minutes later)
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White House Correspondents’ Association president Carol Lee introduced a video of the presidents’ most memorable press conferences, touching on the passage of Obamacare, the killing of Osama bin Laden, immigration reform, the thawing of relations with Cuban and the Iran deal.
He adds: “I am hurt, though, Bernie, that you’ve been distancing yourself a little from me. I mean, that’s just not something that you do to your comrade.”
It also catalogued some of the times he slipped, hit his head, repeated the phrase “be clear”, tripped up his words, failed to correctly identify the reporter to which he was speaking and wore “mom jeans.”
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Acknowledging Bernie Sanders, “the bright new face of the Democratic party”, Obama says: “Bernie, you look like a million bucks. Or to put it in terms you’ll understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27 each.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association is now handing out its journalism awards, and freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian is doing the honors.
.@POTUS: "We've got the bright new face of the Democratic Party here tonight: Mr. @BernieSanders." #WHCD #NerdPromhttps://t.co/aPgLP4e5Vr
A full list of those awards can be found here.
Read Rezaiain’s post-freedom interview here:
Related: Jason Rezaian on Iranian release: 'I’m a hell of a lot better than 48 hours ago'
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First Lady Michelle Obama takes the stage
Michelle Obama is on stage to present the White House Correspondents’ Association scholarships to the student winners.
A complete list of the young people getting hugs from the First Lady can be found here.
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The Sunlight Foundation decided to troll the press corps in attendance at the TIME-People pre-party on Friday night (sponsored by Toyota, presumably among others.)
The non-profit organization – which, among other things, maintains a free, easy-to-use database of all political donations – asked departing attendees to donate their ginormous canvas bags of free stuff to the charity, with little success.
Watch video of their efforts – including the demand by one reporter “Don’t make us look bad by going to a party” – below.
Last year’s swag bags were worth an estimated $550, including the LeSportsac bag in which they came.
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Like Donald Trump himself, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs is not at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but not because he can’t take a joke. Jacobs has a scoop on the New Hampshire Republican party’s apparent efforts to undermine the New Hampshire Republican primary winner, one Donald J Trump.
To former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg, whom he initially compared to the other NYC billionaire leading the race for the Republican nomination. “It’s not an entirely fair comparison between you and The Donald. After all, Mike was a big city mayor, he knows policy in-depth and he’s actually worth the amount of money that he says he is.
In an email obtained by the Guardian, the state’s Republican leadership proposed a slate where the delegate chair and every committee slot would be filled by supporters of other candidates.
In other words, while Trump’s convention delegates from New Hampshire are safe and sound, New Hampshire Republicans are trying to make sure that everyone else’s supporters will fill the committee slots – especially those slots on the rules committee, which may well determine how the convention functions and whether, in a contested convention scenario, Trump really takes home his prize.
Read more:
Related: New Hampshire Republicans try to limit Trump's convention influence
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And if watching the nation’s political and celebrity elite finally get served their petit filets au poivre isn’t quite thrilling enough, read more about Father Daniel Berrigan, who died today at the age of 94. Berrigan was a prominent Catholic anti-war and social justice activist who helped shaped the face of American opposition to the Vietnam War.
Daniel J. Berrigan, Defiant Priest Who Preached Pacifism, Dies at 94 https://t.co/x4GZerF6US
Lots of great tributes to Daniel Berrigan happening. https://t.co/iPfrF9wJDA
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Patrick Gavin
Obama “congratulates” Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on earning a night off after the successful and uncontroversial conclusion of the Republican primary process.
And as C-Span cuts away from Wolf Blitzer chewing and toasting with Reince Priebus – they were drinking the Franciscan Estate chardonnay, according to C-Span, which got a not-bad review from Cheap Wine Ratings, though decide for yourself whether that’s a good thing or not – Patrick Gavin weighs in on what jokes he’s waiting for from the president and host Larry Wilmore.
He also called out Helen Mirren. “Helen Mirren is here tonight. I don’t even have a joke here, I just think Helen Mirren is awesome.”
Things I’ll be looking for:
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And now for the annual jokes about the decline of the journalism industry: “I also would like to acknowledge some of the award-winning reporters that we have with us here tonight: Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schrieber. Thank you all for everything that you’ve done. I’m just joking, as you know Spotlight is a film, a movie about investigative journalist with the resources and the autonomy to chase down the truth and hold the powerful accountable. Best fantasy film since Star Wars.”
Patrick Gavin
He added: “Every year at this dinner, somebody makes a joke about Buzzfeed, for example, changing the media landscape. And every year the Washington Post laughs a little bit less hard.”
I’m excited to be joined by journalist and documentary filmmaker Patrick Gavin, who is an expert on what the dinner was, is and could be.
The laughter was pretty uncomfortable.
Hi! Excited to hop on board. I covered this dinner/weekend for 10 years at such places as Politico, Washington Examiner and FishbowlDC. I probably held the distinction of turning in some the dumbest coverage of anyone. (Sorry!)
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After a bit of a catharsis, I took a more critical look in 2015 with my first documentary, Nerd Prom: Inside Washington’s Wildest Week, and, ever since, I’ve become like the least popular in town all weekend thanks to some of my critical coverage.
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Anyway! So what should you know going into this thing? Here are the things about this event that depress me:
It’s time for the annual Joe Biden joke: “I love Joe Biden, I really do. I want to thank him for his friendship, for his counsel, for always giving it to me straight, for not shooting anybody in the face.”
You could be forgiven for wondering the obvious: Why is the biggest event in a town with low approval ratings for everyone (reporters, politicians alike) a big self-celebration?
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Yeah, you’re telling me.
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Okay, let’s drink!
Speaking of his increasing popularity in his final year in office, he says “The last time I was this high, I was trying to decide on my major”, to a few loud shrieks of laughter.
Read Patrick’s OpEd for The Guardian today:
“Even my aides can’t explain the rising poll numbers” he adds. “What has changed? No one can figure it out.”
Related: The White House Correspondents' Association preaches transparency — but doesn't practice it
And then he showed pictures of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
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The president arrives at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
In a reference to Michelle Obama’s infamous lack of enthusiasm for being in Washington, he said: “You might have heard that someone jumped the White House fence last week, but I have to give the Secret Service credit, they found Michelle, brought her back, she’s sitting back at home now. It’s only nine more months, baby.”
After this, they’ll sit down and eat a fancy dinner prepared and served for 2,700 people and served by hourly wage employees.
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Catering staff at the Washington Hilton, where the event is held, are by and large people of color represented by United Here! Local 25.
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In other catering news, Trump’s SoHo property in New York has been accused by a former catering staffer of stiffing its catering staff on tips in violation of New York law. The catering, though, is handled by a subcontractor.
Obama takes a swipe at the press, noting that Savannah Guthrie and Norah O’Donnell left the White Hous e... and “Jake Tapper left journalism to join CNN”.
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Howls are heard in the audience; Tapper is seem taking a sip of wine.
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.@POTUS: "@JakeTapper left journalism to join CNN." #NerdProm #WHCD #WHCD2016https://t.co/1DdYnNaoBm
If you’re watching the live feed above, and getting bored watching a bunch of people you don’t know get slowly drunk and schmooze with other people you don’t know, interspersed with their efforts to talk to celebrities without seeming like utter fan-boys and -girls, might I recommend checking out some quality journalism from The Guardian?
The first American has died of complications the Zika virus.
Related: Zika virus: first American dies of complications linked to disease
Law enforcement in Lebanon broke up a sex trafficking ring that had enslaved dozens of female Syrian refugees who had gone there to escape the war in their home country.
Related: Dozens of Syrians forced into sexual slavery in derelict Lebanese house
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And if you’re wondering why people call it “nerd prom”, they cribbed it from now-MTV news correspondent (and former Guardian columnist) Ana Marie Cox, who wasn’t being exactly kind when she coined it.
Obama says “Even some foreign leaders have been looking ahead, anticipating my departure. Last week, Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe. That was a slap in the face. A clear breach of protocol.”
Now, it’s used as a humble-brag, like “Oh, ho, aren’t I nerdy, here’s my selfie with Will Smith”; then, it was a way of mocking the annual desperation to get included on the guest list.
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Cox reportedly regrets having coined the term.
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Sigh. True. https://t.co/urY0Rl7Qhu
Obama cracks a “red wedding” joke, after suggesting that they consider Merrick Garland’s US supreme court nomination in the hall.
Here is Will Smith taking a selfie of himself with the photographers taking pictures of him.
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After a series of jokes about how he ages and Michelle Obama always looks the same, Obama’s joke about being unpopular with Republicans falls flat. “In just six short months, I will be officially a lame duck, which means Congress now will flat-out reject my authority and Republican leaders won’t take my phone calls. And this is going to take some getting used it, it’s a curve ball, I don’t know what to do with it.”
If you’re curious about how the White House Correspondents’ Dinner went from being a self-congratulatory scholarship-awarding dinner to a self-congratulatory, celebrity-spotting spectacle, some more information on that can be found here.
He pauses, waiting for laughter; the audience was waiting for the punch line.
Related: White House correspondents' dinner: star power, but according to who?
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Enlarged prostate jokes always kill with the heavily male White House press corps: “Hillary once questioned whether I’d be ready for a 3am phone call. Now I’m awake anway because I’ve got to go to the bathroom. I’m up.”
Gary the Dog steals the show at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
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Carrie Fisher, attending the dinner as a guest of The Guardian, created the biggest red carpet stir by bringing her dog, Gary.
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.@twhiddleston, @carrieffisher's & @Gary_TheDog on #WHCD Red Carpet https://t.co/HrRHIJ8Jn1 #NerdProm #WHCD2016https://t.co/98lhCgSem2
Obama makes a joke about being “gray and grizzled, just counting down the days to my death panel.” (It’s not his first death panel joke of the last eight years.)
As you may have heard, dogs don’t really like to be hugged by their owners, according to “science” but, since this is America and, in the current political climate, only uncontroversial science is accepted as fact (as demonstrated by climate denialism), it’s unclear how much of a difference any scientific findings will make to dog-owners.
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The red carpet is wrapping up as the stragglers head into the dinner, but we’ll continue to find something to cover (I hear there are other things happening in the world?) as the 2,700 guests tuck into their diver scallops, steak, shrimp, dessert and – according to C-Span – Napa Valley wines.
Meanwhile, here are The Guardian’s guests, Tom Hiddleston, Carrie Fisher and Gary the dog, posing on the red carpet. (C-Span assures us that Gary was very popular on Twitter.)
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Just now on C-Span, People editor JD Heyman on celebrities and their causes.
And I think it’s a natural impulse on the part of very wealthy people and powerful people to want to be engaged in that way [with a cause]. So I think it’s both for public image reasons and financial management reasons and just human reasons that people become involved in either political or environmental or other work related to causes. I know that most Americans may raise an eyebrow about the causes of some celebrities, but many of them feel the causes quite profoundly and do want to engage and feel like, you know, noblesse does not come without oblige and they should do something with their celebrity and their resources.
Here is a picture of Kendall Jenner, of the Kardashian Jenners, arriving at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is dedicated to the important role the fourth estate plays in holding the executive branch of the US government to account.
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The dinner is, as you can imagine, not without its critics.
New York City-based photographer Clayton Cubitt, a Bernie Sanders supporter, is among them.
The White House Correspondents Dinner is the grossest spectacle of oligarchic incest since the Borgia papacy.
You can see some of hits Vets4Bernie portraits here:
Related: #Vets4Bernie: veterans speak out in support of Bernie Sanders – in pictures
So is Tressie McMillan Cottom, an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The WHCD is a very strange world with very strange bedfellows.
(Her essay on Prince after his death is a must-read.)
And here’s a picture of prominent Sanders supporter and Clinton critic, Rosario Dawson.
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Eric Trump, Donald Trump’s middle son, says that he’s prepared to hear jokes about his dad.
@EricTrump's ready for possible @realDonaldTrump-related jokes from @POTUS at the #WHCD: https://t.co/WX9oKi6vcF https://t.co/WSsHXU1YDS
The Donald is boycotting because of how dishonest the media is, and not because he got made fun of a lot last year and has a thin skin.
Read more about how he got zinged by the sitting president last year.
Related: White House correspondents' dinner: will Obama deliver a Trump roast?
