Obama Pokes Fun At Republicans, Democrats, Media At White House Correspondents' Dinner
President Obama generated laughs Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, poking fun at the field of possible presidential contenders and himself. The reporters attending the dinner in Washington booed, however, when the president took jabs at CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.
Obama said it has been a tough year for some people. "I have one friend who was making millions of dollars a year, and now she's living out of a van in Iowa," Obama deadpanned, taking a jab at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, considered the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
He noted Clinton went unrecognized at the start of her campaign, as she made her way from New York to Iowa, stopping at a Chipotle in Ohio for lunch. But she's not the only Democrat to go unrecognized, Obama said. "Martin O'Malley went completely unrecognized at a Martin O'Malley campaign event," he said, a reference to the former Maryland governor who is considering a White House bid.
He also said he is excited about a possible candidacy by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind-Vt. Obama said he is happy to see people want a "pot-smoking socialist in the White House. We could get a third Obama term after all."
Obama talked about how close he's gotten in the past seven years to Vice President Joe Biden. "We've gotten so close, some places in Indiana -- they won't serve us pizza anymore," he said in a reference to the state's recently amended religious freedom law.
Turning his attention to the possible Republican presidential candidates, Obama compared Jeb Bush's accidentally identifying himself as Hispanic to Obama accidentally identifying himself as American in 1961, a reference to the birthers' insistence he was born in Kenya.
He also cited the Koch brothers, and their pledge to give $1 billion to get a Republican elected president. He said the GOP hopefuls should be insulted the Kochs think it will take that much money to make Americans like a Republican candidate.
Obama gave a shoutout to the cast of "Blackish," which was in attendance. "Being blackish only makes you popular for so long. Trust me," he lamented.
Obama generated boos when he said the "only people impersonating journalists on CNN are journalists on CNN" and when he said the polar vortex "caused so many lows, they renamed it MSNBC."
Obama said he recognizes his relationship with the press is adversarial and described himself as a "mellow sort of guy," so he invited his anger translator, Luther, who proceeded to give an angry spin to Obama's following remarks -- until Obama worked up some anger on climate change deniers. Luther stopped Obama mid-sentence, saying, "With all due respect, sir, you don't need any translator."
Obama also thanked former Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who said the president would be responsible for generating the end of days. "That's quite a legacy," Obama said.
He also doled out a slap to the 47 Republican senators who sent a letter to Iran's leaders, saying just because Obama agrees to a pact on Iran's nuclear program doesn't mean Congress will go along. Obama said 47 ayatollahs wrote a letter to the senators explaining how our system works.
Toward the end of his remarks, Obama turned serious and toasted the journalists who lost their lives in the last year, including the Islamic State group victims, James Foley and Stephen Sotloff. He also pledged to bring home the Washington Post's Jason Rezaian, imprisoned in Iran.
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