WASHINGTON (AP) – This week's big news is that President Joe Biden said during a weekend Washington roast that the two candidates secured their party's nomination For the president. But one was too old and mentally unfit for the job, he said.
“It's me,” Biden quipped.
excavation Against Republican Donald Trump Remarks from the president continued at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner as Biden fends off continued criticism. that his memory is vague And he appears confused, instead highlighting moments where Trump, 77, also failed.
“Don't tell him. He thinks he's trying to run against Barack Obama. That's what he said,” Biden, 81, said, adding that he drastically changed his bedtime. He also quipped that it was too late to wake up.
It was Biden's first time attending the dinner while he was president, and it was held as the 2024 election approaches and the rematch between Biden and Trump heats up. This year marks his 139th year, the annual bacchanalia organized by the journalist organization, which traces its history back to his 1885. This year Grover refused to attend his Cleveland presidency. Every president since then has attended at least one Gridiron dinner.
But Biden quickly turned dark, questioning what the real threat to democracy would be if Trump, who continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen, returns to the White House. emphasized. The speech echoed Biden's campaign rhetoric, which criticized President Trump and was too soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are living in an unprecedented moment in our democracy,” he said. “An unprecedented moment in history. Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. President Putin is marching through Europe. His predecessors bowed to him and said, 'Do whatever you want.'”
Biden then introduced Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas.
He said, “We will not bow down. They will not bow down, and I will not bow down.”
Biden, dressed in his customary white tie attire, arrived with his daughter Ashley.
The dinner is known as a night of bipartisan banter, and features Washington politicians and figures 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 crowded with people. , five governors and at least five ambassadors.Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister of Ireland Who will be in town on St. Patrick's Dayalso participated.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, also spoke at the dinner.
Biden also spoke about the importance of press freedom, closing the dinner. Although he may not agree with everything news outlets report, he said he understands the need for journalism and continues to work to communicate that to the public. Journalist Evan Gershkovich Austin Tice, one held in Russia and the other People who went missing during a reporting trip to Syria.
“Good journalism is a mirror that reflects society,” he said. “I need you.”
Biden and Harris were seated at the head table, along with other senior government officials, foreign leaders and Washington Post President Dan Baltz Gridiron. Also seated at the table were Baltz's boss, Post editor-in-chief Sally Buzbee, and the paper's owner, Jeff Bezos.
The dinner was held at the Grand Hyatt. Photography and television were prohibited.
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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.