Biden, Trevor Noah headline White House journalists’ gala dinner

The president and jokes are back, the Covid mask is off and the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — Saturday’s glitzy party mixing Washington politics, media, and Hollywood — is on.

The White House press corps affiliation, the WHCA, has hosted presidents for an annual black-tie dinner starting with Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

But the televised Washington social juggernaut — cherished by using a few, maligned as balk-worth by means of others — shuddered to a halt beneath the twin influences of Donald Trump’s media-bashing presidency, then Covid-19.

So to gather 2,600 invitees at the Washington Hilton, the scene of the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, offers a restorative return to the familiar, with President Joe Biden on hand to hear himself being roasted by Daily Show host Trevor Noah.

Some dub the WHCA get-together the “Nerd Prom,” referring to the giddy excitement of often less-than-glamorous journalists as they mix it up for a night with the rich and powerful.

While peak glitz was under Barack Obama’s Hollywood-connected presidency, Saturday’s version will feature guests including Kim Kardashian, an opening video skit by British comedian James Corden and a raft of competing after-parties.

Covid-19 vaccination is mandatory for the gala, but many question the wisdom of 79-year-old Biden joining. His vice president, Kamala Harris, tested positive for the virus last week and the country’s senior infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci is not attending.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who will be there, said Biden was skipping the meal itself and will mask up when not speaking.

He wanted to “showcase his support for the free press” and to submit himself to Noah’s roasting routine, “where he will be on the menu, as he likes to say,” Psaki added.

Biden appears to want to draw a line under Trump, who not only never attended the dinner but branded journalists “the enemy of the people.”

The last WHCA gala earlier than Covid-19 broke out to become in 2019. It featured neither the president nor even a comic — the fallout from the preceding yr’s occasion whilst featured comedian Michelle Wolf’s jokes disappointed Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

With Washington glued to news from Ukraine and the US pushback towards Russia, the dinner may have a serious aspect, paying tribute to sacrifices made through reporters in battle zones.

“I’ve always had respect for the press, but I can’t tell you how much respect I have watching them” in Ukraine, Biden said.

WHCA President Steven Portnoy, from CBS radio, said it was time to return to tradition, with an evening honoring pioneering reporters of the past, prize winners from today, and paying “respects to our colleagues who have died covering the war in Ukraine.”

And “there might be a few other surprises, too,” he added.