VOA News | Sunday, April 28, 2024 
Biden jabs Trump in election-year roast at correspondents’ dinner

Washington — U.S. President Joe Biden delivered an election-year roast on Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as protesters outside criticized his support for Israel’s war against Hamas. Biden used the annual black-tie event to chide his Republican rival Donald Trump for immaturity, poke fun at his own advanced age and take on the Washington press corps. “Yes, age is an issue. I’m a grown man, running against a 6-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 endorses me.” Demonstrators holding banners chanted about journalist deaths in Gaza outside the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual gathering. Hundreds of protesters encouraged journalists to boycott the event and shouted down administration officials as they entered. Biden avoided the large protests at the front of the hotel by arriving through a back entrance, where he was greeted by smaller groups of protesters calling for a cease-fire. At the century-old event, often referred to as Washington’s “nerd prom,” hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities rubbed elbows in a massive hotel banquet hall. It often features friendly jabs from the president in a closing speech that takes aim at reporters and other guests in the audience. Biden offered some advice to the press corps. “I’m sincerely not asking you to take sides. I’m asking you to…Read more