At Joe Biden’s 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the 80-Year-Old President said that Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old media mogul who owns Fox News, makes him look like former One Direction member Harry Styles in comparison. He delivered the joke at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 29, 2023. Biden joked about his own age and his critics who think he is too old to run for re-election. He also addressed serious issues at the event, such as press freedom and Americans wrongly detained abroad. Here are the essential facts about the event.
1. Full attendance
President Joe Biden attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, April 29, 2023. He was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her husband, Douglas Emhoff. Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent on The Daily Show on Comedy Central, hosted the dinner.
2. Americans detained abroad
Biden opened his speech with serious remarks about the wrongful detention of Americans abroad. These included Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Russia; Austin Tice, a journalist held in Syria; and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia.
3. Brittney Griner shoutout
Biden also mentioned Brittney Griner, the WNBA star freed in a prisoner swap in December after being detained for nearly 10 months in Russia.
4. Fox News & CNN jokes
Biden then joked about his age, political opponents, and the media, especially Fox News and CNN.
5. Emmett Till & Democracy
Biden ended his speech with a plea to fight for democracy and press freedom. He cited Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black boy whose brutal murder in Mississippi in 1955 galvanized the civil rights movement.
Sources
As always, our trivia facts about Biden’s 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner are cross-checked with the world’s leading news suppliers. Here are some of the articles we read for this post.
- AP News: Known for laughs, DC dinner spotlights risks of journalism
- CNN: Biden calls for release of wrongfully detained Americans abroad during White House Correspondents Dinner
- NPR: Biden makes fun of his age at the White House Correspondents dinner
- The Guardian: ‘They say I’m ancient’: Biden speech to White House media proves to be one for the ages
- Reuters: Biden attacks news outlets for lies of conspiracy and malice
- USA Today: WHC dinner: Biden vowed to free wrongly detained Americans abroad
News Trivia Quiz Time
Now that you know all there is to know about Biden’s 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, how about a quiz?
