President Biden didn’t waste time.
Just minutes into his speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday, Mr. Biden launched into the issues dominating the 2024 election, including his age and former President Donald J. Trump’s hush-money trial in New York.
“The 2024 election’s in full swing and yes, age is an issue,” Mr. Biden said in a roughly 10-minute speech. “I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.”
“Donald has had a few tough days lately. You might call it ‘stormy’ weather,” Mr. Biden said, an oblique reference to Stormy Daniels, a porn actress who claims to have had sex with Mr. Trump in 2006 and received a hush-money payment in the days before the 2016 election, a deal at the center of his New York trial.
The comments, even as part of a roast, were notable given Mr. Biden has forbidden his aides to talk publicly about Mr. Trump’s legal troubles. But they also came as Mr. Biden has ramped up his attacks on Mr. Trump, sharpening the split-screen between a president on the campaign trail and a former president spending his days in a courtroom.
The annual dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel provided a break to journalists and government officials from their normal jousting for a night of glitz and gossip in celebration of the free press. Mr. Biden, who has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, extended his roast to the journalists gathered for the dinner.
“Some of you complained that I don’t take enough of your questions,” Mr. Biden said. “No comment.”
“The New York Times issued a statement blasting me for ‘actively and effectively avoiding independent journalists,’” Mr. Biden said. “Hey, if that’s what it takes to get The New York Times to say I’m active and effective, I’m for it.”
