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Roy Wood Jr., the “Daily Show” comedian tapped to lead laughs at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, held nothing back on Saturday.
Highlighting journalists’ roles in safeguarding democracy, this weekend marked the first WHCD in years in which both the president and vice president and their spouses were in attendance. From Biden’s age and VP Harris’ role to cable news networks and politicians, no one was spared.
“Real quick, Mr. President, I think you left some of your classified documents up here. … I’ll put them in a safe place, he don’t know where to keep them,” Roy Wood Jr., began.
The son of a journalist and civil rights trailblazer, Roy Wood Jr. went after both Fox News and CNN, as the former just recently lost a near billion dollar lawsuit for promoting falsehoods about the 2020 election while the latter recently let go long-time news anchor Don Lemon.
“Yes, Don Lemon was a diva and he said a couple of women are raggedy in the face. But that’s a promotion at Fox News,” Roy Wood Jr. said.
Roy Wood Jr. demanding reparations was no joke
As some states and cities begin implementing or brainstorming efforts to grant reparations to Black Americans, Roy Wood Jr. didn’t shy away from the issue.
Calling out Republican efforts to demonize diversity, equity and inclusion and ban books about Black history, Roy Wood Jr. served up a spicy clapback.
“You are trying to erase Black people and a lot of Black people wouldn’t mind some of that erasure as long as that Black person is Clarence Thomas,” he said.
Near the end of his comedic sermon, Roy Wood Jr. set his sights on Vice President Kamala Harris.
“At the end of the day, [being] the vice president, the only thing you got to do is just be better than Dick Cheney. … They made a documentary about Dick Cheney. Now, I don’t know much about the job of vice president, but I do know if they can make a documentary about your time as vice president, you vice president-ed incorrectly.”
In introducing Roy Wood Jr., Biden gave a solemn address in defense of the Fourth Estate after telling his own jokes.
“Tonight our message is this: journalism is not a crime,” Biden said, a striking difference from the former president who regularly battled with the media. Poking fun at himself, the president added, “I believe in the First Amendment. Not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it.”