Biden Gives, Gets at Joke-Filled Event

President uses age as a punchline about himself, Trump to Gridiron Club
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 17, 2024 1:45 PM CDT
Biden Gives, Gets at Joke-Filled Event
President Biden attends a Friends of Ireland luncheon Friday on Capitol Hill with House Speaker Mike Johnson, right.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Biden kidded on the square about issues including age—his and Donald Trump's—in a jokey address to the Gridiron Club on Saturday night. The yearly, $400-a-plate dinner for Washington politicos and reporters included speeches from others, as well, who zinged the president in their turns. One was Michigan's top Democrat. "I'm Gretchen Whitmer," she told the crowd. "My name is usually preceded by the phrase 'governor,' or the phrase 'Hey, what about…'" Republican Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah said speechwriters wanted $20,000 to help with his address. The "exact same speech," Cox said, "only cost $200 before Bidenomics." It was Biden's first appearance at the dinner of his term. The president's lines, per the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, referenced:

  • His age: "Two candidates clinched their parties' nomination for president. One candidate's too old and mentally unfit to be president. The other guy's me."
  • His opponent: "The other day, a defeated-looking man came up to me and said, 'I'm being crushed by debt. I'm completely wiped out. I said, 'Sorry, Donald, I can't help you.'"
  • His State of the Union address: "Even the press has to admit, I crushed it. Granted, your expectations were so low, I just had to show up and remember who the president is."
  • Retiring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "I hate to see a friend give up in his prime."

After his standup bit, Biden attacked Trump, per Politico. The president charged his Republican opponent with "destroying the economy" as president in 2020, "embarrassing" the US in world affairs, and encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade NATO allies. "I wish these were jokes but they're not," Biden said. The White House has the text of the speech here. (More President Biden stories.)

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