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President Biden delivered a mix of jokes and sharp criticism at the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington on Saturday at the expense of his Republican nominee, former President Donald J. Trump.
“One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president,” Biden said. “The other man is me.”
Biden, 81, has defended criticism about his age, but used the remarks to spotlight recent gaffes by Trump, 77, including mentions of running for another president in 2024. I guessed.
“I’m running against the same guy I won in 2020, but I won’t tell him,” Biden said. “He thinks he’s trying to run against Barack Obama. “That’s what he said.”
It will be Biden’s first appearance at the dinner since taking office, and is the latest in a series of high-profile gatherings in Washington where politicians and journalists don white gloves and formal wear and lightly taunt each other through speeches and skits. It was a heartwarming night inside. The Gridiron Club, one of Washington’s oldest journalism associations, hosted the dinner at Washington’s Grand Hyatt.
But Biden didn’t just target his opponents. He saved time to grill Congressional Republicans and their efforts to impeach him and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
“I heard that House Republicans were going to do a skit tonight, but they couldn’t find a speaker,” he said, referring to the lengthy election process for House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. ” he said.
“Republicans would rather fail at impeachment than succeed at anything else,” he added. “He took one look at Congress and asked for another Guinness,” Biden said, referring to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar who was sitting at the table.
But in his nearly nine-minute remarks, delivered “six hours past his bedtime,” Biden took a more serious tone, issuing stark warnings about threats to democracy. Mr. Biden’s aides hope that emphasizing the stakes of the November election will draw voters to the polls, even as Mr. Biden’s approval ratings are low.
“Freedoms are under attack,” Biden said. “The lies about the 2020 election, the conspiracy to overturn it, and the conspiracy to condone the January 6th insurrection pose the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War.”
“It’s the poison that runs through the veins of our democracy,” Biden continued. “Disinformation exists everywhere. There is a toxic cycle of anger and conspiracy.”
The president also pushed back against Trump’s recent comments that he would not defend NATO allies who do not pay their contributions to the alliance.
“Democracy and freedom are literally under attack,” Biden said. “President Putin is marching through Europe. His predecessor bowed to him and said, “Do whatever you want.” In fact, the president of the United States said so. ”
The president was joined at the table by Vice President Kamala Harris, senior Cabinet members, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Biden also named two others at the table: the Estonian prime minister and the Ukrainian ambassador.
“We won’t give up, they won’t give up, I won’t give up,” Biden said.
Biden also previewed his campaign, diving into one of Trump’s more memorable proposals during the coronavirus pandemic. He promised to show how his administration “survived the pandemic, turned around the economy, and reestablished America’s leadership in the world without encouraging Americans to inject bleach.”
“Or without destroying the economy, causing embarrassment around the world, or stirring up rebellion,” he continued. “Look, I wish this was a joke, but it’s not.”
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