President Joe Biden took pointed aim at Donald Trump during a speech Saturday at the Gridiron Dinner, joking repeatedly about his rival’s mental fitness and warning that he poses a grave danger to democracy at home and abroad.
Jabs at Trump’s Mental Fitness
“One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president,” Biden said, in one of several jabs directed at Trump across his roughly 10 minutes of remarks. “The other is me.”
Biden called out Trump for failing to recognize a photo of his own wife during a deposition and for alluding on multiple occasions to running against Barack Obama in 2024 — jokingly urging the crowd not to correct him.
Serious Criticisms of Trump’s Record
But Biden turned serious when he accused Trump of “destroying the economy” in 2020 and “embarrassing” the US on the world stage, criticizing him for more recently suggesting he’d let Russian leader Vladimir Putin invade NATO allies. “I wish these were jokes but they’re not,” Biden said, vowing that on his watch, “we will not bow down.”
Criticism of GOP and Politics
Biden also decried the “toxic cycle of anger and conspiracy” in politics supercharged by Trump, cautioning that while the attempt to overturn the election in 2020 failed, “you all know the threat remains.” He also took shots at the Republican Party writ large, mocking the House GOP’s impeachment effort as a “joke” and criticizing the party’s refusal to pass a bipartisan immigration bill. “Republicans would rather fail on impeachment than succeed in anything else,” he said.
Self-Deprecating Humor
Biden poked fun at himself and his age as well, noting the dinner was “six hours past my bedtime” and marveling at low expectations for his State of the Union address. “Even the press has to admit, I crushed it,” he said. “The expectations were so low I just had to show up and remember who the president is.”
President Biden’s speech at the Gridiron Dinner showcased a mix of humor, sharp criticism of Trump and the GOP, and self-deprecating humor, reflecting his style of addressing political issues with a blend of wit and seriousness.
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