WASHINGTON (AP) – Much of Washington is ready for the party as it was in 2019, before the Corovirus, when the biggest risk in the annual White House press gala is that more jokes will shed so many political feathers.
The comedy also returns, with “The Daily Show” being hosted by Trevor Noah Headliner. Celebrities also attended: Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson are expected to appear, while comic studio Funny or Die will co-sponsor another party. The event also attracts a large number of government officials and other celebrities.
“I think the return of the President of the United States and the return of dinner is more of a pandemic break,” said Harold Holzer, author of Presidents v. Press. “It is safe for us to talk again.
“I think this relationship – even if it’s a nightmare where people are smart and laugh at each other – is a very healthy thing.
It seems like a return to normal for the nation’s capital, but it also reminds us that COVID-19 remains a threat. Vice President Kamala Harris was positive this week and Dr Anthony Fauch, a leading government coronavirus expert, will skip dinner “because of my individual risk assessment.”
This raised doubts that Biden, 79, would have to leave. The President wants to serve food and get later on the schedule. He is masked when not speaking.
“I’ve always respected the press, but I can’t tell you how much I respect watching them in these places where they’re under fire,” Biden said at a dinner in Russia this week in Ukraine. . “
“Imagine if we didn’t get this information,” the president added. “It’s a world.”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden’s attendance plan was “the opposite of his predecessor, who not only questioned the legitimacy of the press almost daily, but never attended dinner.” Trump happily dismissed the event and was sometimes called by the media the “enemy of the people”.
Dozens of attendees, including members of Congress and Biden’s cabinet and journalists, tested positive for COVID-19 after a press conference in Washington.
The White House emphasizes their abundance Paxlovid antiviral pill, which has been shown to reduce the serious consequences of the virus by 90% in those at highest risk. However, Psaki said of Biden: “We wanted to be very clear that it was possible that he tested positive for COVID, just like any American.”
This is because the United States experiences the highest cases of COVID from the highly contagious sub-variant of omcron, with confirmed infections rising to approximately 44,000 per day, from 26,000 last month. Although more than 800,000 cases per day nationwide during the Omicron wave earlier this year were lower, current statistics are unlikely to be sufficient due to the increased availability of COVID-19 tests at home. , its results will not be reported to health authorities. .
The White House Correspondents Association said that even before Gridiron was released, the antigen had to be tested the same day for dinner attendees. It has already added the vaccination requirement for attendees to Saturday’s gala with a capacity of over 2,600 and fully booked.
Despite the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, deaths from the virus, and hospitalization at or near low pandemic levels, the BA.2 variant is less severe than previous viral strains. More than 300 people die every day from the virus in the United States, up from more than 2,600 a day at the beginning of the year-about 1,600 hospitalized a day, down from more than 21,000 daily peaks in January.
The correspondence dinner was held in 1921. Calvin Coolidge became the first president to attend in three years, and everyone since then except Trump. Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon decided not to participate in their presidency each year, even though Ronald Reagan, who had since recovered from an assassination attempt, disappeared in part of 1981 but was recalled from Camp David.
“What I think it shows is the restoration of a healthy relationship,” said Holzer, director of the Roosevelt House Institute for Public Policy at Hunter College in New York. “It will still be thorny, there will still be moments of tension. But it’s okay. “
After comedian Michelle Wolf’s hilarious mockery in 2018 caused controversy, the following year the event was announced by historian Ron Chernow. Celebrity Return This time reminds the administration of President Barack Obama when people like George Clooney, Charlize Theron, and Viola Davis attended.
As Vice President in 2014, Biden appeared in a comedy video with HBO “Veep” star Julia Lewis-Dreyfus, which caused a lot of laughter at the correspondents ’dinner. White House Speaking Editor Vinay Reddy and Biden’s longtime adviser Mike Donilon worked on Biden’s statements this year, the White House said, and took materials from a variety of people, both in inside and outside the government.
Psaki has already admitted he was trying to lower expectations and said the speech was “not funny. ᲣI was just kidding.” However, attempts at presidential humor can be dangerous.
At a dinner in 2011, Obama humiliated Trump – in his presence – because of Trump’s fictitious statements on the then president’s birth certificate. Obama thought that one day Trump would accept his job and say, “He’s really going to make a difference in the White House,” because banquet hall screens feature a parody of 1,600 Pennsylvania Avenue with the Trump logo, columns gold, digital clock and sign “Hotel, Casino, Golf Course, Presidential Suite”.
This has been a proven prophecy because Trump has clearly replaced Obama, even though the changes he made in the presidency have prevented him from writing his name in the White House.
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
