Biden To Journalists: "Journalism Is Clearly Not A Crime, Not Here, Not There, Not Anywhere In The World"

Journalism, Hollywood, and politics once again collided in the U.S. capital on Saturday with President Joe Biden in rare form as "comedian-in-chief." TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"To all of my friends in the press... Some of you complain that I don’t take enough of your questions. No comment.” Biden, who has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, extended his roast to the journalists gathered for the White House Correspondents Association annual dinner.

TURAN also was among media outlets that was invited to the dinner, for the second year in a row. Alex Raufoglu, TURAN's Washington correspondent, who currently serves as a member of the WHCA, and board member of The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States, was present at the ceremony packed with hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities.

Biden used the dinner to launch a barrage of jokes at his 2024 presidential challenger, former President Donald Trump. "Yes, age is an issue. I'm a grown man running against a six-year-old," he said adding. "Age is the only thing we have in common [with Trump]. My vice president actually endorses me..."

Biden's age didn't escape the night's entertainer from Saturday Night Live, Colin Jost either.  "The economy is kind of like you on the steps of Air Force One. It feels like it's stumbling, but there is somehow upward progress," Jost said.

Jost also took some shots at former President Trump, who was not present at the ceremony. "Can we just acknowledge how refreshing it is to see a President of the United States at an event that doesn't begin with a bailiff saying, 'All rise'."

Trump didn’t seem to appreciate the ribbing, posting on his social media platform Sunday morning that the dinner was “really bad” and Biden was “an absolute disaster.”

As for the dinner, Biden ended the night with a toast to the First Amendment: "To a free press, to an informed citizenry, to an America where freedom and democracy endure" he said.

He also called for the release of jailed American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva 'immediately', along with every other American wrongly detained abroad.

“There are some who call you the enemy of the people. That’s wrong and it’s dangerous... You literally risk your lives doing your job," Biden emphasized.

"Some of your colleagues have given their lives, and many have suffered grievous injuries. Other reporters have lost their freedom. Journalism is clearly not a crime, not here, not there, not anywhere in the world," the U.S. President concluded.