The “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr., seemingly spared no-one in his roasts during Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The comedian poked fun at President Joe Biden, Republicans, Democrats and the media, including the recently dethroned cable news hosts at CNN and Fox News.
Here are some of Wood’s best lines from the night:
— Real quick, Mr. President, I think you left some of your classified documents up here. ... I’ll put them in a safe place, he don’t know where to keep them.
— I'm well aware that not everybody in this room knows who I am. So let's just address the elephant in the room. I know it is. Half of this room think I'm Kenan Thompson. The other half think I’m Louis Armstrong. President Biden think I’m the daddy on "Family Matters.”
— I'd like to stop right now, and congratulate tonight's top scholarship recipient: Arizona State senior George Santos. Oh yeah, George couldn't be here tonight. He's auditioning for "RuPaul’s Drag Race." We say good luck to you, George.
— Paramount Global right now is considering offers from Byron Allen and Tyler Perry to purchase BET. That's how bad it is out there. These companies are so broke they've giving BET back to Black people. Which by the way, is not what we meant when we said Black people wanted reparations. We meant cash, you can give it to us in [the] Harriet Tubman twenties.
— Tucker Carlson is out of the job. Some people celebrating. But to Tucker’s staff I want you to know that I know what you're feeling. I work at “The Daily Show” so I, too, have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program.
— Fox claimed Dominion conspired with the Democrats to rig the election. The Democrats should be flattered that they thought that y'all was smart enough to rig an election.
— Yes, Don Lemon was a diva and he said a couple of women are raggedy in the face. But that's a promotion at Fox News.
— Ron, everybody know how to do politics. This is America. We don't pass laws. You make a promise to voters. And then you don't do it. That's what the great leaders in this room understand.
— Ask any Republican [to] try to explain CRT, they sound like a Democrat trying to explain the charges against Trump.
— You are trying to erase Black people and a lot of Black people wouldn't mind some of that erasure as long as that Black person is Clarence Thomas.
— When the retirement age went up two years to 64 [in France] they rioted because they didn't want to work till 64. Meanwhile in America, we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years of work.
— At the end of the day, [being] the vice president, the only thing you got to do is just be better than Dick Cheney. … They made a documentary about Dick Cheney. Now, I don't know much about the job of vice president, but I do know if they can make a documentary about your time as vice president, you vice president-ed incorrectly.
President Joe Biden on Saturday used the traditionally lighthearted White House Correspondents’ Dinner to drive home the importance of the free press amid threats to democracy at home and abroad.
Biden opened his speech by recognizing the family of Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in Russia in March and falsely accused of espionage.
“Evan went to Russia to shed light on the darkness that you escaped from years ago,” Biden said, praising Gershkovich’s “absolute courage.”
“Tonight our message is this: journalism is not a crime,” Biden told the applauding crowd.
The president also acknowledged dinner attendee and WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was detained in Russia for nearly 10 months, and Debra Tice, the mother of Austin Tice, a journalist who has been held captive in Syria for more than 10 years.
“Evan and Austin should be released immediately, along with every American held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” Biden urged. He also acknowledged Paul Whelan, the former U.S. marine currently detained in Russia, and promised Whelan’s family that neither he nor his administration would quit until Whelan was freed.
Biden eventually cut the somber atmosphere with a joke about his own age. “I believe in the First Amendment. Not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” the 80-year-old said to laughter from the crowd.
Biden’s speech included some of his favorite lines — “don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative,” — peppered with digs at Republicans and the media, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Fox host Tucker Carlson, former CNN host Don Lemon, and Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
Biden also had some barbs for Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“You all keep recording my approval rating is 42%. I think you don't know this. Kevin McCarthy called me and asked, 'Joe, what the hell is your secret?'” Biden said.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was back to its glitzy, elbow-rubbing glory this year for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began. The annual roast was canceled in 2020 and 2021, and the virus continued to cast a shadow over last year’s event, after the Gridiron Club dinner weeks earlier turned out to be a superspreader event.
But on Saturday, not even the rainy weather could deter the crowd – some 2,600 journalists, politicians and celebrities filed into the ballroom at the Washington Hilton for the celebration, keynoted by comedian and “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood, Jr. The dinner got off to a rowdy start, as White House Correspondents’ Association President Tamara Keith tried to rein in attendees’ attention. “Don't make me shout out, 'Decorum!” Keith said in an effort to quiet the room for her opening remarks.
The awards and speech portion of the night opened with a video of actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spoke of the importance of the relationship between politicians and the press.
“Tonight's event of course sends a powerful message that you don't see politicians schmoozing and drinking with the press in Beijing or in Moscow or places like that — no, not at all,” Schwarzenegger said in the pre-taped recording, which included a cameo from actor Danny DeVito. “So even though you have asked questions that have annoyed the hell out of me, I remind myself always that you actually do the people’s work. You are the ally of the people, so never ever stop shining a light on the truth and informing the public.”
Keith emphasized that message in her remarks, noting that this was the first time in many years that both the president and the vice president attended the event, after former President Donald Trump declined to join during his time in office.
“Their presence is a statement and endorsement of the importance of a free and independent press — even if they don't always like the questions we ask, or the way we ask them,” Keith said.
Wood later wrapped up the evening's theme in his inimitable style: "Tonight is all about you all, journalists, the defenders of free speech. People who show truth to the world, from different mediums, from television, print, radio, whatever China let us see on TikTok."
Federal regulators are rushing to seal a deal to sell troubled lender First Republic to a larger bank, with JPMorgan Chase as a top contender, two people involved in the talks said on Saturday.
The FDIC wants to complete an agreement by Sunday evening that would likely include the government taking on some of First Republic’s troubled assets or offering other guarantees that would make buying the bank less risky for would-be suitors.
Formal bids for First Republic — which has seen heavy deposit outflows and suffered massive share price declines in recent weeks — are due to the FDIC by the middle of the day on Sunday, according to the people, who requested anonymity to provide details of the discussions.
Federal regulators are hoping to put an end to turmoil in the banking industry following the stunning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. First Republic's problems largely stemmed from the panic that engulfed those two banks amid a run on deposits.
First Republic, until this year one of the more envied banking franchises in America with over $200 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, would be the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history after SVB and Washington Mutual. First Republic issued a grim earnings report last week that showed just how fast deposits were racing away, replaced by more expensive loans, an unsustainable formula that helped spark the latest stock price collapse.
While JPMorgan and PNC Financial expressed interest in a First Republic deal on Thursday, the bidding process was formally opened up on Friday, which could clear the way for another large bank to also make the winning offer, one person familiar with the process said.
It also remains possible that the FDIC could decide that the bids they receive are insufficient and no deal could emerge. That would mean First Republic opening for business again on Monday and trying to survive at least until regulators agree to a subsequent bid.
First Republic, a California-based institution with a strong track record and highly desirable customer base, has been foundering and bleeding deposits since the failure of SVB and Signature. Like those two, First Republic has a large number of customers with deposits that exceed the FDIC-guaranteed limit of $250,000 in their accounts.
When the government rescued SVB and Signature, regulators hoped that their decision to backstop all deposits at both banks would send a message to depositors that they shouldn’t worry about the money in their bank accounts.
That worked to a degree but it did not stop rapid deposit outflows from First Republic or end a share price rout that saw the bank’s stock slide another 40 percent on Friday to close at just $3.51, a nearly 98 percent drop from this time last year. The consensus among investors is that First Republic will continue to founder if not rescued by a combined public and private sector deal by the time markets open on Monday.
A group of big banks including JPMorgan and PNC tried to shore up First Republic last month by injecting $30 billion in deposits. It did not work.
JPMorgan, PNC and the FDIC all declined to comment on the talks.
A U.S. government convoy carrying hundreds of American citizens arrived at Sudan’s port Saturday, according to the State Department.
The evacuation is part of a larger effort to relocate American citizens in the East African nation amid escalating violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces that has left over 500 dead. It comes less than one week after a special forces operation airlifted 70 U.S. diplomats and embassy employees out of Sudan.
When pressed Friday to confirm reports about the convoy, State Department officials declined to comment, citing operational security. Al-Monitor first reported on the convoy plan.
Eligible U.S. citizens and other evacuees would be assisted to travel from Port Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the State Department said, emphasizing that the U.S. government has been in contact with all American nationals in Sudan who wished to leave.
“We messaged every U.S. citizen in Sudan who communicated with us during the crisis and provided specific instructions about joining this convoy to those who were interested in departing via the land route,” the statement read, before reiterating a warning that U.S. citizens should not travel to Sudan.
A Pentagon statement said the Defense Department "approved a request for assistance from the Department of State to support the safe departure of U.S. citizens and their immediate family members."
"The Department of Defense deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we are moving naval assets within the region to provide any necessary support along the coast," the statement added.
Fighting first erupted in Khartoum on April 15 as a power struggle between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, came to a head in their attempt to jointly steer the government. Fighting resumed Saturday despite a ceasefire intended to allow foreign governments to evacuate their citizens, which was set to expire on Sunday night.
As of Friday, an estimated 40,000 refugees fled Khartoum for various refugee camps, according to the UNHCR.
Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
