President Barack Obama poked fun at Hillary Clinton’s lack of appeal among young people Saturday night, joking at the annual White House press corps dinner that she was like an aging relative who cannot figure out how to use Facebook.
Mr. Obama also needled her for paid speeches she gave for Goldman Sachs. He noted that if his comedy routine, during his final appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, was successful, he could earn “serious Tubmans” — a nod to Harriet Tubman, the American abolitionist whose image will be printed on $20 bills. He referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was in the audience, as “comrade”, a reference to his political status as a democratic socialist.
But the President reserved his most biting commentary for the Republicans running for President, repeatedly turning to the party’s chaotic nominating contest for comedic fodder.
Mr. Obama mocked Sen. Ted Cruz for calling a basketball hoop a “basketball ring” while campaigning in Indiana.
The President showed a picture of Gov. John Kasich of Ohio eating pancakes as he noted that “some candidates aren’t polling high enough to qualify for their own joke tonight”. And he tweaked Republicans in the audience for their search for an alternative candidate, noting that the options for dinner were steak or fish.
And then there was Donald Trump. Mr. Obama riffed at length about Mr. Trump, the billionaire-turned-frontrunner, who was not in attendance.
The President wondered aloud why Mr. Trump had chosen not to be there. He joked that Trump had some foreign policy experience because “he has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world: Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan.”
And he noted that Mr. Trump may be the best person to succeed in closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. “Trump knows a thing or two about running waterfront properties into the ground,” Mr. Obama said.
Indian journo wins award
An Indian-American journalist was felicitated on Sunday by President Barack Obama as she and her colleagues were presented with a prestigious award during the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.
Neela Banerjee and three of her colleagues from Inside Climate News were presented with the prestigious Edgar A. Poe award. — New York Times News Service, PTI
