‘We Had a Horrible Plague Followed By Two Years of Covid’: Joe Biden’s 9 Best Jokes from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Joe Biden delivered a handful of jokes during a 13-minute speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night. He poked fun at his detractors and himself, joking he’d been elected to the Senate during the Coolidge administration in 1924.

(Incredibly, more time has elapsed between Biden’s actual election to the Senate in 1972 and Saturday night than his election to the Senate and the year 1924.)

The dinner was the first since 2019, as the Covid-19 pandemic prompted cancelations in 2020 and 2021. It was also the first WHCA Dinner that a president attended since 2016, as Donald Trump shunned the gathering during his administration.

Here are Biden’s nine best wisecracks, in chronological order.

1.

Thank you, Steve for that introduction. And a special thanks to the 42% of you who actually applauded. I’m really excited to be here tonight. You’re the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have.

2. 

This is the first time the president has attended this dinner in six years. It’s understandable. We had a horrible plague followed by two years of Covid.

3.

Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now, that would really have been a real coup if that occurred. A little tough, huh?

4.

The very first president to attend the White House Correspondents Dinner was Calvin Coolidge in 1924. I’d just been elected to the United States Senate. I remember telling him, “Cal, just be yourself. Get up there and speak from the heart. You’re gonna to be great, kid. You’re gonna do well.”

5.

Folks, it’s been a tough few years for the country. That’s one reason why it’s great to be here again. Everyone at the White House is so excited. I told my grandkids and Pete Buttigieg they could stay up late and watch this show tonight.

6.

Tonight, we come here to answer a very important question on everybody’s mind. Why in the hell are we still doing this? I know, I know there are questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of Covid. Well, we’re here to show the country that we’re getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone had to prove they’re fully vaccinated and boosted.

So if you’re at home watching this and you wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted, all of them.

7.

And, look, Fox–Fox News, I’m really sorry your preferred candidate lost the last election. To make it up to you, I’m happy to give my chief of staff to you all so he can tell Sean Hannity what to say every day.

8.

Folks, I’m no not really here to roast the GOP, That’s not my style. Besides, there’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape.

9.

They say it’s not your father’s Republican party. Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down.” Today’s Republicans say, “Tear down Mickey Mouse’s house.” And pretty soon, they’ll be storming Cinderella’s castle. You can be sure of it. But Republicans seem to support one fellow – some guy named Brandon. He’s having a really good year. And I’m kinda happy for him.

Watch above via CNN.