"Fox, which lost 1 trillion won, comes for free meals," Biden joked

Highlighting Fake News and Sexist Remarks

Recently, U.S. President Joe Biden, who officially declared his bid for re-election, made jokes about his age, presidential rivals, and the media during an annual event with local press.

On the 30th of last month (local time), foreign media including the Associated Press reported on the remarks made by President Biden at a dinner with the White House press corps held the previous day. President Biden said, "I see a lot of Fox News reporters," adding, "I couldn't refuse the free meal because of the $787 million (about 1 trillion won) settlement this year."

U.S. President Joe Biden is smiling at a dinner with the White House press corps held in Washington, D.C., on the 29th (local time).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Fox News is a conservative-leaning media outlet that is usually critical of the Biden administration. This was a jab at the fact that Fox News was recently ordered to pay a large sum to Dominion Voting Systems after reporting that the vote counting company manipulated the 2020 election results in favor of President Biden.

President Biden also joked about Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch, saying, "I like Rupert Murdoch," and "How could I dislike someone who makes me look like Harry Styles (a British singer and actor born in 1994)?" Biden, who often faces criticism about his age in the media, made this joke by pointing out that Murdoch is 11 years older than him.

He also mentioned former President Donald Trump once, expressing frustration that while the media makes an issue of his own age, they do not seem concerned about Trump’s similarly advanced age.

Then, President Biden said, "I am a believer in the First Amendment (freedom of speech and press)," adding, "not just because my close friend Jimmy Madison wrote it," eliciting laughter from the audience. The media interpreted this as Biden referring to James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, as his friend while openly acknowledging his own age.

He said, "People say I’m old, but I’m experienced. They say I’m aged, but I’m wise," and "They say I’m past my prime, but if it were Don Lemon, he’d say ‘Biden is in his prime.’"

Don Lemon was a leading anchor on CNN but was recently fired after making a sexist remark that "a woman’s prime is until her 40s."

U.S. President Joe Biden is giving a speech at a dinner with the White House press corps held in Washington DC on the 29th (local time).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

President Biden also made jokes about Republican figures. He said, "I hope everyone enjoys tonight, but be safe," adding, "If you lose your sense of direction or get confused, either you’re drunk or you’re Marjorie Taylor Greene." This was a reference to Greene’s past verbal slip where she confused 'Gestapo' with 'gazpacho' (a Spanish soup).

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual event that began in 1924 and was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 but resumed last year.

At the beginning of his speech, President Biden introduced the family of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter detained by Russia on espionage charges, emphasizing, "We are working every day for his release."

At the end, he proposed a toast with the message, "Democracy is still fragile," and "Let us work together so that truth triumphs over lies and to restore the soul of America."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.