Politico

The 2024 election begins as a high-stakes staring contest.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both told aides and confidants that they’re more likely to run for the White House next cycle — and confident in their chances of winning — if the other runs, too. But as each camp gears up for a rematch of the bitterly contested 2020 contest, there remains a small hiccup: Neither is inclined to take the plunge first.

It’s a game of political chicken that — as described by more than a half dozen advisers to the two men — has largely frozen the field among Democrats and Republicans alike, raising questions about the future health of two parties being led by a pair of candidates who, by that Election Day, would have long ago celebrated their 75th birthdays.

“It’s a very unusual situation where there are people in both parties who would likely clear the field, and for the first time in modern history we might not have a very competitive primary on either side,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who was a senior adviser on Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential bid. “So it’s hard to think of what that would look like other than it being a brutally long election campaign.”

Inside the White House, for now, it’s all systems go for 2024. An official decision has not been made and may not for some time, according to three administration officials not authorized to discuss private deliberations. But Biden has repeatedly said he plans to seek reelection, and White House aides and Biden advisers are taking initial steps to mount a bid, believing he has a strong record and would overcome intraparty concerns about his age — on Election Day 2024 he will be just shy of 82 — and shaky poll numbers.

He has little choice to say otherwise; an admission that he was making himself a lame duck would dramatically curb his political power. Some Democrats have expressed private hope that Biden will make his final decision soon after this November’s midterms, giving the party plenty of time to prepare for what would likely be a wide-open primary if he opts not to run.

But presidents often wait until after the midterms to declare a reelection candidacy, in part because of the campaign finance restrictions that doing so would bring. On a personal level, moreover, acting promptly is not a Biden strength, sparking fear within the party that an announcement could be delayed until deep into 2023. The one factor that could hasten a decision and all but certainly ensure that Biden runs again: if Donald Trump says he will, too.

The current president has had repeated conversations with allies that he would need to run again to prevent Trump from reclaiming the Oval Office. Like he did in 2020, Biden views Trump as an existential threat to American democracy. And like he did in 2020, Biden thinks he’s the only one who can beat him. He plans to more aggressively target Trump as the midterm season approaches — both as a means of turning around his party’s standing for the midterms but also to set up a contrast for the future.

“This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in recent American history,” Biden said on Wednesday.

But Trump is in no hurry to move first. He has hinted strongly that he will run again, but advisers don’t expect a decision until much closer to the midterms. Barely a year since leaving office in disgrace, Trump has enjoyed reclaiming his perch atop the GOP and playing kingmaker in the primary season — as reinforced by J.D. Vance’s victory Tuesday in the Ohio Senate GOP primary. But he has not committed even privately to running himself. And he has admitted that he is hesitant to announce soon, because once he does he would be restricted in how he could utilize and coordinate with certain political committees tied to him.

Even his closest allies are left to read the tea leaves. Trump’s enthusiasm to hold rallies, his flirtations with a 2024 run in media interviews, and his super PACs’ deep coffers, advisers say, are all signs he is likely to run again. But he also remains obsessed with relitigating 2020 more so than taking concrete steps to prepare for 2024. Relatedly, they add, he would likely jump into the fray if assured that Biden was running too.

“Biden running helps shape his decision. I think it’s an opportunity to avenge a loss and right a wrong, whereas if there was a younger candidate, I don’t know how motivated he’d be,” said a former adviser to Trump.

The potential rematch would have only one historical parallel. In 1888, President Grover Cleveland’s reelection bid was toppled by Benjamin Harrison. But four years later, Cleveland defeated Harrison in their rematch, becoming the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Trump’s pollster, John McLaughlin, said his firm’s surveys show that the 45th president is favored to walk in Cleveland’s dusty footsteps. An April nationwide poll of likely voters by McLaughlin & Associates showed Trump with 50 percent support compared to Biden’s 43 percent. Other national polls have shown a tighter race, but polling this far out is functionally pointless in predicting a race.

“If they keep attacking him, he’ll run,” McLaughlin said. “If they keep trying to attack him and his supporters — Trump’s the type of person where if you tell him he can’t do something and if you personally keep attacking him, he’s going to try to prove you wrong.”

But some Trump allies believe he may ultimately opt against a run, either for health reasons or, if Biden’s poll numbers rebound, because he doesn’t want to risk a second loss, even though he has yet to acknowledge the first defeat.

So far, a slew of prominent Republicans have begun making overt moves to run in 2024. Whether they will abandon their own White House dreams if the former president were to run again is another matter entirely.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are among those who made appearances in early voting states, and some have started securing top political consultants. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has hinted she’d mount a bid but wouldn’t run against Trump if he decides to enter the race. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has suggested he may run even if Trump does. And there is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has emerged as an heir-apparent to Trump and the populist MAGA movement.

Things may be just as uncertain on the Democratic side of the ledger. If Biden opts against seeking reelection, the field may not clear out for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has yet to find her political footing in the role. Two 2020 candidates, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), each have held recent high-profile events on hot button election topics.

If Biden opts to seek a second term, a serious primary challenge would be unlikely.

“Everything is frozen until after the midterms. I expect Biden to run, I hope he runs. And I think if there is a credible primary challenger against Biden there is almost a certain Trump victory,” said Paul Begala, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Historically, incumbent presidents have a losing track record if someone from their own party poses a significant challenge: Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and George H.W. Bush in 1992 all held off their primary opponents but emerged wounded and later would lose the general election.

During the 2020 campaign, there was some idle chatter in Biden’s campaign of making a one-term pledge, becoming a “transitional” president who would rid the nation of Trump and then usher in a new era of Democratic leaders. But those ideas were dismissed even before Biden took the oath of office.

Still, some allies and Democrats privately worry that Biden may not be able to handle the rigors of another campaign.

A bone he broke in his foot while playing with his dog in late November 2020 still occasionally bothers Biden, resulting in a slower and shorter gait. And the White House has largely abandoned using the Oval Office for press events in part because it can’t be permanently equipped with a teleprompter; Biden aides prefer the fake White House stage built in the Old Executive Office Building next door for events, sacrificing some of the power of the historic backdrop in favor of an otherwise sterile room that was outfitted with an easily read teleprompter screen.

And if Biden were to run again in 2024, it almost certainly would be a more rigorous campaign than the one he previously mounted. The outbreak of Covid kept Biden in his Delaware home for much of the 2020 general election campaign, sparing him the wear and tear of relentless travel.

As for Trump, the issues are not related to physical health so much as psychological conditioning. He wants to run, those who know him say, but wants to be sure he will win.

“I always said that he would run if Biden is under 44 or 43 [percent] but if Biden is at 46, 47, he will pass,” said Bryan Lanza, a GOP strategist and former Trump campaign official. “Right now he is at 41 so I have to say yes right now — there has to be a dramatic turning out in Biden numbers for him to pass.”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday delivered the Biden administration’s most forceful defense of reproductive rights since POLITICO reported on a draft majority opinion showing the Supreme Court has voted to strike down Roe v. Wade.

“Some Republican leaders are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women. How dare they? How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?” said Harris, speaking at an EMILY’s List conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington. “How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?”

Harris had been scheduled to speak at the gala before news emerged of the court’s draft ruling. But after the disclosure, both the event and her speech took on heightened urgency. A White House official told POLITICO the speech went through multiple revisions on Tuesday in preparation for the spotlight.

The justices’ draft opinion could hold major ramifications as voters head to the polls for primaries and then again in November — elections that will determine which party holds power, from state legislatures to governors’ mansions to the U.S. Congress. Most voters back abortion rights, according to a December 2021 POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. While 52 percent of respondents said abortion should remain legal in most or all cases, 36 percent said abortion should be banned in most or all cases. And 45 percent said Roe should not be overturned, compared with 24 percent who said it should be.

Harris also warned that the threat doesn’t stop with abortion rights.

“At its core, Roe recognizes the fundamental right to privacy,” she said on Tuesday. “Think about that for a minute. When the right to privacy is attacked, anyone in our country may face a future where the government can interfere in their personal decisions. Not just women. Anyone.”

That line from Harris’ speech is in sync with what President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday, saying that “the idea we’re letting the states make those decisions, localities make those decisions, would be a fundamental shift in what we’ve done. It goes far beyond the concern of whether or not there is the right to choose.”

The president added that a final ruling striking down Roe from the Supreme Court would affect “other basic rights: the right to marry, the right to determine a whole range of things. A number of the members of the court have not acknowledged that there is a right to privacy in our Constitution.”

Administration officials and the president have been reticent on whether the White House would call for a carve-out in the filibuster to codify abortion rights into law. A bill that has passed the House would do just that. But it failed in the Senate, and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) reaffirmed on Tuesday that he would not support nixing the filibuster for any legislation.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told PBS on Tuesday night that the Senate would be voting on a bill.

“Well, obviously, what we’re going to do next week is have a vote on this so everyone in the country knows where their senator stands,” Murray said. “Who is your voice? What are they saying? So that when this fall, we have elections, people will have an opportunity to know where their elected official stands. And I am calling for our country to wake up and say, if you want to make sure that this is your decision, not a politician’s decision. That when it’s your health care at stake, it is your decision.”

Protecting reproductive rights is an issue Harris has been working on and speaking out on since her time in the Senate. And as a presidential candidate, she criticized the lack of discussion on abortion rights during the primary debates.

After her speech on Tuesday, it’s expected that the vice president will continue to be a main voice of the administration on the issue.

“She’s going to talk about it as appropriate,” a White House official said. “It’s something that she feels very strongly about.”

President Joe Biden on Tuesday responded to the Supreme Court draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade, reiterating his support for abortion rights and his belief that the landmark 1973 ruling should “not be overturned.”

Biden’s statement, released by the White House, came after POLITICO on Monday published an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would undo Roe’s guaranteed federal protections of abortion rights — as well as a subsequent 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, that largely maintained those rights.

Biden acknowledged that White House officials “do not know whether this draft is genuine, or whether it reflects the final decision” of the Supreme Court. But he said he believes “that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental, Roe has been the law of the land for almost fifty years, and basic fairness and the stability of our law demand that it not be overturned.”

Biden also noted that — amid a rash of state legislation in recent months aimed at limiting abortion rights and access — he had directed the White House Gender Policy Council and the White House counsel’s office “to prepare options for an Administration response … under a variety of possible outcomes in the cases pending before the Supreme Court.” He added: “We will be ready when any ruling is issued.”

Finally, Biden warned that if the Supreme Court “does overturn Roe, it will fall on our nation’s elected officials at all levels of government to protect a woman’s right to choose. And it will fall on voters to elect pro-choice officials this November.”

Congress “will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law,” Biden said.

President Joe Biden wants the Senate to do something it’s only done once in the past 16 years: confirm someone as the nation’s top gun regulator. It’s not going to be easy.

After the White House yanked its initial pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in September, the Biden administration and gun safety advocates are pushing for the chamber to swiftly confirm Steve Dettelbach, a former U.S. attorney. And everyone involved knows time is not on Democrats’ side: With control of the upper chamber in play this fall, Dettelbach may be Biden’s best and final chance to have a Senate-confirmed ATF director during his presidency.

The agency needs a head with the permanence of Senate approval to have the best chance at implementing Biden’s guns agenda. With little hope for bipartisan compromise on the issue in a 50-50 Senate, particularly as the midterm elections approach, Democrats are increasingly imploring the White House to take unilateral action on gun control on a smaller scale than Congress has envisioned in previous attempts at a legislative deal.

But a number of key Senate Democratic caucus members are noncommittal on Dettelbach, who supported an assault weapons ban and universal background checks during his failed bid for attorney general of Ohio in 2018. That includes those who privately opposed or didn’t back Biden’s last nominee: Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). All three are set to speak or meet with Dettelbach in the coming weeks, critical conversations that will determine his fate on the Senate floor.

Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is working behind the scenes to help confirm Dettelbach, who’s from his home state.

“We’re working the people that we needed to work from last time, the ones that went south,” Brown said Monday. “I didn’t push to move forward with this nomination not to do a floor vote.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is still reviewing Dettelbach’s nomination and has yet to schedule his confirmation hearing. But its chair, Majority Whip Dick Durbin said he’s “ready to go as soon as they give me their thumbs-up.”

The White House withdrew its initial nominee, David Chipman, a senior policy adviser at the anti-violence group Giffords, last fall after he faced resistance from King and further hurdles with other moderate Democrats. Brown said there were “maybe three people” opposed to Chipman at the time.

Manchin confirmed he had a “problem” with Chipman’s nomination and said of the ATF job: “Some people inside the system that I heard were really good. But you know, you have to get someone who understands the people on the front line, what we are asking ATF members to do.”

King said he’s reviewing Dettelbach’s record, and Tester plans to press the nominee on his opposition to assault weapons and whether that extends to other firearms.

“He’s opposed to assault weapons, and I’m going to ask him: How did he formulate that idea, why? Does it have any impact on other guns? Are there other things we need to know about him that he would be opposed to?” Tester said.

Biden nominated Dettelbach last month at a Rose Garden ceremony announcing the finalization of an ATF regulation that mandates background checks and serial numbers for so-called “ghost guns” — untraceable firearms constructed from homemade kits sold online. Confirming Dettelbach, the White House argues, is key to their ability to crack down on gun violence.

With background checks legislation stalled in the Senate, confirming a permanent director to the agency could be the Biden administration’s last chance at defining his legacy on guns. The Senate has yet to vote on legislation the House passed last year to expand background checks for firearms purchases.

“The focus right now is on getting the ATF director confirmed and implementing the new rule on ghost guns,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the chamber’s staunchest gun control advocates. “Those are the two important steps forward.”

In a sign that Republican support could be hard to come by, retiring Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman was also noncommittal about Dettelbach, noting “this should be a nonpartisan job.”

“He has the support of law enforcement and former federal prosecutors from both parties — including appointees of both President Trump and President Bush,” said Mike Gwin, spokesperson for the White House. “If we want to crack down on gun crime and keep our neighborhoods safe, ATF needs an experienced law enforcement official like Steve Dettelbach at its helm, and if Republicans are serious about getting tough on crime, they should support Dettelbach’s confirmation.”

Since being nominated, Dettelbach criss-crossed the country to meet with local and state law enforcement. The White House and Justice Department have also formed teams to help secure support for the nominee. While its leadership remains in flux, the ATF is undergoing internal upheaval. Last month, Biden named Gary M. Restaino to become acting director until Dettelbach’s confirmation, replacing Deputy Director Marvin Richardson.

So far, Dettelbach has received endorsements from top law enforcement officials and prosecutors, including the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the American Pediatric Surgical Association and former Oklahoma City bombing prosecutors.

Out of those five groups, Biden’s former pick, Chipman, only received the backing of the Black law enforcement organization when he was nominated.

In anticipation of GOP attacks, the White House plans to draw a contrast with Republicans and highlight calls for abolishing the ATF from Trump-backed Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. White House officials are hopeful that Dettelbach’s growing endorsements from law enforcement leaders and organizations will insulate him from Republican attacks on his gun positions.

The first — and only, so far — permanent ATF director, B. Todd Jones, was tapped by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed in 2013. (Until 2006, the position did not require Senate approval). Confirming an ATF director is notoriously difficult: Former President Donald Trump’s ATF pick Chuck Canterbury was withdrawn in 2020 over lack of GOP support.

In keeping with that political reality, Dettelbach is guaranteed to face a tough Judiciary Committee hearing. During Chipman’s appearance before the panel, Senate Republicans grilled him on a past interview where he suggested that new gun owners with no training should only take out their firearms “if the zombies start to appear,” among other previous public appearances.

Chipman defended the zombie comments as “self-deprecating.”

Durbin observed it’s been “years” since ATF had a permanent director, suggesting it’s a testament to the influence of pro-gun groups in the Senate and a coordinated strategy to keep the agency unstaffed.

“The reason it’s not confirmed is, the National Rifle Association and gun groups don’t want an organized agency implementing the laws,” Durbin said. “The best thing they can do is keep the director out of a job.”

Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report. 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to make one thing clear: He was never going to “nerd prom.”

The Florida Republican, who criticizes all things perceived to be part of the political establishment, predictably said Monday that his office “rejected” an invite to Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner. He said it was a “lie” for event organizers to in any way associate his name with the event.

“I would never attend that. Have no interest in that. Did not watch it. I don’t care what they do,” DeSantis said when asked about the event at a Jacksonville press conference on Monday. “For them to advertise me when that invitation was rejected by my office, that is a lie. Here they are saying how important they are that they are somehow these paragons of truth, yet they are lying about something that is readily verifiable.”

DeSantis’ name was included in the event’s program even though he was not in attendance, and The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, who performed at the dinner, made it seem as though DeSantis was in the audience before a string of jokes focused on the governor’s rivalry with former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis, who on Monday didn’t directly respond to Noah, and Trump have downplayed tensions, which at times have been public. Both are jockeying for position ahead of a 2024 presidential election cycle where many expect Trump to again run. DeSantis is seen as the only viable primary challenger or the front-runner if Trump does not run.

“One of my favorites, Ron DeSantis is here,” Noah told Saturday night’s attendees, pointing to the audience. “Oh man, I’m actually surprised that he found the time. You know he has been so busy trying to outmaneuver [former President Donald] Trump for 2024. I see you, Ron. I see you, player.”

The roughly two minutes of DeSantis-focused ribbing played on the perceived tension between the two, including the fact that Trump was trying to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine in January, and calling politicians who would not say if they got the booster shot “gutless.” DeSantis has publicly sidestepped questions about his booster status.

“Yeah, I’ve seen what you’ve been doing, blaming Trump for the lockdowns, distancing yourself from the vaccines that Trump created with his own two hands,” Noah said.

DeSantis has mostly downplayed potential presidential aspirations, even as he has consistently trained his political and policy focus on national issues that stir the conservative base. He has developed near-rockstar status among Republicans across the country over the past year, a time that has seen him win several 2024 straw polls that do not include Trump.

DeSantis most recently addressed the issue this weekend on The Truth with Lisa Boothe, a Florida-based conservative media personality.

“The interesting thing is, you know, people will have paraphernalia about me in the future, people always bring it up to me and stuff, but you know, I have never done anything along those lines, I’ve basically just done my job,” DeSantis said.

“And so I think what it shows is, is that people just wanna see people that are willing to lead and willing to fight for the people, knowing you’re gonna face arrows, knowing you’re gonna be able to have to be in the kitchen when it gets hot, but who’s gonna stand there and lead us out of this morass?” DeSantis added. “And so we just do what we can do to help Florida, but it really has had implications beyond the country, and really I get people that write in to Florida from other countries saying, we look to Florida as kind of the beacon.”

President Joe Biden said Sunday that former Vice President Walter Mondale helped him through some of the darkest days of his life.

“They helped me find my purpose in a sea of darkness and pain,” the president said of Mondale and his wife during a belated memorial for Mondale held at the University of Minnesota.

Biden described the aftermath of the fatal car crash in December 1972 in which his wife and daughter were killed and both of his sons were seriously injured.

The crash occurred while Biden was away in Washington mere weeks after he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Biden was 30 years old, and his sons, Beau and Hunter, were facing a long period of rehabilitation and recovery.

“The last thing I wanted to do was go to the United States Senate after that. We had elected a governor, a Democrat. He could appoint a Democrat. And I had my brother talking to him about who he would appoint. But there was Fritz and Joan; they embraced me,” Biden said referring to Mondale by his longtime nickname.

He added: “It’s not just being nice but bringing me in. They came to the hospital to see my boys.”

Biden said Mondale and others including then-Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and then-Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) persuaded him to at least give the Senate a try for six months — and then kept him busy to get his thoughts off his family tragedy.

“They kept me engaged. They helped me get up when it was easy to give up,” Biden said.

The Covid-19 pandemic had delayed the memorial for Mondale, who died in April 2021 at the age of 93. He served as vice president under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, but was at the wrong end of a landslide when he tried to defeat President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Biden referred to Mondale on Sunday “one of the great giants in American history. … Fritz was a giant in American political history.”

Last week, Biden spoke at a memorial ceremony for Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become the secretary of State. Albright died in March at the age of 84. “In the 20th and 21st century, freedom had no greater champion than Madeleine Korbel Albright,” Biden said at the Washington National Cathedral.

“Daily Show” host Trevor Noah didn’t discriminate when it came to the receiving end of his roasts during Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The comedian went after President Joe Biden, Democrats, Republicans and members of the media from CNN to Fox News. The headliner took the stage after the event’s two-year pandemic hiatus to deliver the traditional WHCA dinner roast, quipping that it was his “great honor” to speak at the “nation’s most distinguished super-spreader event.”

Here are 15 of Noah’s best lines.

1. It is my great honor to be speaking tonight at the nation’s most distinguished super spreader event. Did none of you learn anything from the Gridiron Dinner? … The second someone offers you a free dinner you all turn into Joe Rogan.
2. I’m not doing this just for the attention. All right? I’m a comedian, not Kyrsten Sinema. … By the way, give it up for Kyrsten Sinema. Whoever thought we’d see the day in American politics when a senator could be openly bisexual, but closeted Republican? That’s progress. 
3. We all saw what happened at the Oscars. I’ve actually been a bit worried about tonight. I’m not going to lie. What if I make a really mean joke about Kellyanne Conway, and her husband rushes up on the stage and thanks me?
4. I’ve just got to say, this is so exciting. To be at this swanky party full of Washington’s most powerful people. It’s not as exciting as Madison Cawthorn made it sound, but it’s still very sexy.
5. Trump said he won the election, but everyone was just able to look at the numbers and see that he was wrong. That’s why Ron DeSantis is one step ahead — first you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes. Boom. My man! 
6. The great chef José Andrés is here tonight. … Whenever there’s a disaster anywhere in the world, chef José is there, which I guess is why he’s sitting at the CNN table tonight. 
7. The real reason that it’s such an honor to be here tonight is that we all get to be in the same room as the most powerful man in the United States. So let’s give it up for Joe Manchin, everybody. 
8. Even as first lady, Dr. Biden continued her teaching career. The first time a presidential spouse has done so, ever. Congratulations. Now, you might think it’s because she loves teaching so much, but it’s actually because she’s still paying off her student debt. I’m sorry about that, Jill. I guess you should’ve voted for Bernie. 
9. I think everyone will agree that it’s actually nice to once again have a president who’s not afraid to come to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and hear jokes about himself. I’ll be honest, if you didn’t come, I totally would have understood because these people have been so hard on you, which I don’t get. I really don’t. And I think ever since you’ve come into office, things are really looking up. You know, gas is up, rent is up, food is up, everything. 
10. President Biden’s lack of a filter does get him into hot water sometimes. Last month, he caused a huge international incident saying that Vladimir Putin should be removed from power. It was very, very upsetting to Russia until someone explained to them that none of the stuff Biden wants actually gets done.
11. What about Maggie Haberman? For four years, it was exclusives on the Russia investigation, corruption, the president doesn’t read his daily briefings, on and on. Now look at her. She spends all day fighting with random people on Twitter like a common political reporter. You’ve ruined her Mr. President. 
12. Jen [Psaki], it’s nice that you’re willing to come over here and risk getting Covid for like, what, the 10th time now? Let me ask, how do you keep getting Covid, Jen? Like your boss hooked us all up with free tests. Does he not have your address? What’s going on there? 
13. I’m really excited because the kings of cable are here. Fox News in the house … I know Fox has a bad reputation — I can even feel you tense up now when I talk about them. They really do crush it. You know, I think they get a bad rap. Because it’s a mixed bag. They actually have really good journalists, it just depends on when you watch. Fox News is sort of like a Waffle House. Yeah, it’s relatively normal in the afternoon, but as soon as the sun goes down, there’s a drunk lady named Jeanine threatening to fight every Mexican who comes in. 
14. Apparently, Jeff [Zucker] got fired after he tried to keep his workplace relationship secret, which is weird because if he really didn’t want anyone to know about it, he could have just made a show about it on CNN plus. … It’s so sad. CNN+, gone but forgotten. You know who I blame? You know who I blame, CNN? John King … your magic wall can predict how every person in the country is going to vote in every county, but it couldn’t give you a heads up that nobody wanted more CNN?
15. Please be careful leaving tonight, we all know this administration doesn’t handle evacuations well.

President Joe Biden used Saturday night’s return of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to reaffirm the role of the free press — a stark contrast to his predecessor’s toxic relationship with the media and refusal to attend the event during his four years in office.

“The free press is not the enemy of the people, far from it,” Biden said, in a nod to one of former President Donald Trump’s favorite media attack lines. “The truth matters. American democracy is not a reality show. It’s not a reality show. It’s reality itself.”

Biden was the first president to address the annual Washington gathering in six years — after two years of pandemic hiatus and four years without an appearance by Trump — and delivered the traditional self-deprecating humor, jokes about the press, and jabs at the opposing party and his predecessor.

“I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have,” Biden said.

“This is the first time a president attended in six years — it’s understandable — we had a horrible plague followed by two years of Covid,” Biden said, drawing an audible response from the crowd. “Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year — now that would really have been a real coup.”

The president then quipped that roasting the GOP wasn’t his style.

“Besides, there’s nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn’t already put on tape,” the president said.

Though the White House — and Washington — is looking to move past the pandemic, Covid’s presence was felt during Saturday’s event. Negative Covid tests and proof of vaccination were required for entry, and guests stood in longer-than-usual lines to show the documentation.

Biden used the vaccination requirement to take a jab at some Fox News hosts’ anti-vaccine rhetoric.

“Everyone had to prove they’re fully vaccinated and boosted. So if you’re at home watching this and you’re wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here — vaccinated and boosted, all of them,” Biden said.

But amid the jokes, the president often struck a serious tone, with Russia’s war on Ukraine hanging over the event. Speakers, including Biden, memorialized fallen journalists who have died in crossfire.

Biden said the U.S. has seen the “courage of the Ukrainian people because of the courage of American reporters” on the ground, shedding light on the atrocities unfolding at the hands of the Russian military. He thanked reporters for covering Russia’s attacks, the deadly pandemic, America’s racial reckoning and climate change’s existential threat to the country.

The awards and speeches portion of the event kicked off with a pre-taped skit with talk show host James Corden in the White House press briefing room before WHCA president Steven Portnoy took the stage to welcome guests.

“We are grateful for the vaccines, the therapies, the tests that make it possible for us to be here together tonight,” Portnoy said during the opening remarks. “We are pleased to have the president in attendance here with us.”

Portnoy then asked the guests at table 82 to identify themselves. That was the table Biden sat at when he first attended the dinner in 1974 — as a guest of the Philadelphia Bulletin evening newspaper.

The cavernous ballroom was packed with about 2,600 people, with only a handful wearing masks. Biden and first lady Jill Biden did not attend the dinner portion of the event and arrived just before the awards and speeches kicked off, sitting at the dinner’s signature dais — both without masks.

The large gathering was held amid fears that it could spur another Covid outbreak after dozens of attendees — from members of the media to some of Biden’s cabinet officials — tested positive after the Gridiron dinner a few weeks ago. Saturday’s attendees by and large reported they enjoyed getting out and about for their first Washington banquet since before Covid struck the U.S.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who tested positive for Covid this week, was not in attendance. Anthony Fauci also pulled out of the event last week due to concerns over the virus.

Celebrity attendees included comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, Martha Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Brooke Shields, reality star Kim Kardashian and comedian Pete Davidson. Media bold-faced names included CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid and CBS’ Gayle King. Others spotted at Saturday’s event included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Meghan McCain and Al Sharpton.

“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah took the stage after Biden to deliver the traditional roast by a comedian.

“It is my great honor to be speaking tonight at the nation’s most distinguished super-spreader event,” Noah said in his inimitable style. “Did none of you learn anything from the Gridiron Dinner? … The second someone offers you a free dinner you all turn into Joe Rogan.”

Eugene Daniels and Sudeep Reddy contributed to this report.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is back for the first time since 2019. Journalists, A-list celebrities and Washington’s power players will pack the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton. That means brunch is back too. On this week’s episode, Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza gets a tour from Tammy Haddad at the site of her annual garden brunch, one of the most sought after invites of the weekend. He chats about more insider details with comedian and WHCD alum Elayne Boosler and Ed Solomon of Anthony’s Tuxedos in Georgetown.

Transcribed excerpts from that conversation are below, edited for length and readability.

Elayne Boosler on the performing her set at the 1993 Dinner: 

“I will tell you and it’s true for all: they laugh, they scream, they laugh. The next day, every paper pans you, every person shuns you. It’s like they’ve had sex with a hooker and then when they pass her in the street the next day, they make believe they don’t know her. So that’s what you’re going to get if you say yes to this dinner.”

Elayne’s advice for WHCD comics and comedians in general:

“No mean-spiritedness, but pointedness. Tell the truth as we all know it, without trying to eviscerate, but shine a little light. Know you’re hilarious. Don’t back down. Don’t apologize. And don’t wait for them to laugh or not laugh. Don’t even listen to them. Keep going at your own pace and your own timing and know that you’re brilliant and the stuff is legitimate and real and stand behind it.

The way to make political comedy work — this is the thing above all — it has to be funny first. Like I said to the NRA, I have had jokes work because they’re funny first. And sometimes on the way home in the car, people go, “Wait a minute!” Well, that’s good enough for me! But comedy is comedy first. If it’s funny first and they’re laughing they can’t hit you. They can’t run and catch you if they’re laughing.”

Ed Solomon on rescuing the tux-less at the eleventh hour:

“Guys will come in and they’ll say they lost the tuxedo on the plane and the plane delivered it late. I tell customers, if you’re taking a plane somewhere, take the tuxedo on the plane with you. Don’t put it in the baggage. Because if the airline says ‘We’ll get it to you the next day’, that might as well be coming from the moon ’cause you gotta wear it that night! So it doesn’t help ya. So we get a lot of that.

We get ‘I just tried my tux on and the dry cleaner shrunk it.’ I say ‘No no, you gained weight. That’s what happened!’ They’re blaming it on the cleaners here. So we get a lot of laughs. We get a lot of emergencies at the end and they’re panicky. Then they come in and we’re like a psychiatrist here. We have to take the stress, calm the people down. And they walk out smiling.”

Tammy Haddad on why the she thinks the dinner is so much fun:

“This dinner is covered around the world. It’s not just in the U.S. and it’s not really about Washington. You see those pictures everywhere, right? Because it’s so rare. And also, it’s rare that you’re in a room with the president, let alone speaking. It’s rare that it’s that much time and the comedian is there and all of these other people are there. That’s just what it is.”