--- title: Watch Biden Unleash on Trump During Washington Speech description: President Joe Biden made fun of Donald Trump's legal troubles and both of their ages at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. canonical: https://time.com/6971838/biden-trump-jokes-white-house-correspondents-dinner/ author: Mallory Moench article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-04-28T12:41:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:42:01.842Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Biden Call Out Donald 'Sleepy Don' Trump During Speech og:description: President Biden made fun of Trump's legal troubles and both of their ages at the White House Correspondents' dinner. og:url: https://time.com/6971838/biden-trump-jokes-white-house-correspondents-dinner/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3dc8efa7771ac45/698a561986f68e1a996f50c3/whca.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Biden Attends White House Correspondents' Association Dinner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Biden Call Out Donald 'Sleepy Don' Trump During Speech twitter:description: President Biden made fun of Trump's legal troubles and both of their ages at the White House Correspondents' dinner. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3dc8efa7771ac45/698a561986f68e1a996f50c3/whca.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Biden Calls Out Donald 'Sleepy Don' Trump During White House Correspondents' Dinner > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5c19e1ce-397a-4d5c-b330-fb34467fc7ab&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Biden Mocks Trump During White House Correspondents’ Dinner [Watch (HLS stream): Biden Mocks Trump During White House Correspondents’ Dinner](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XC73bR2x.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2024-04-29. President Joe Biden called out Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday in Washington D.C., making fun of the former President’s legal troubles and both of the 2024 election candidates’ ages._ by [Mallory Moench](https://time.com/author/mallory-moench/) ## Mallory Moench Moench was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 28, 2024 12:41 PM UTC by [Mallory Moench](https://time.com/author/mallory-moench/) ## Mallory Moench Moench was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 28, 2024 12:41 PM UTC President Joe Biden called out Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday in Washington D.C., making fun of the former President’s legal troubles and both of the 2024 election candidates’ ages. Biden is 81 and Trump 77, [making them the oldest](https://time.com/6693305/biden-age-memory-trump-campaign/) major party presidential nominees in history. Both men are battling public perceptions about their age and competency—and seizing upon one another’s weaknesses in the race for the White House. Biden began by mocking Trump after [journalists reported](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/media/donald-trump-trial-asleep-reporting-challenges/index.html) that the former President appeared to fall asleep last week in Manhattan court during a [criminal trial against him](https://time.com/6965419/trump-hush-money-trial-legal-questions/). Trump is facing felony charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush-money payment to adult film star [Stormy Daniels](https://time.com/5428162/stormy-daniels-trump-spotlight/) before the 2016 election. “Sleepy Don, I kind of like that, I may use it again,” Biden quipped. Biden went on to mention the 2024 election and acknowledged: “And yes, age is an issue. I’m a grown man running against a six-year-old.” Trump has similarly mocked Biden’s age over the years, [calling the President “Sleepy Joe”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZD7-El4xE) because of Biden’s [verbal blunders](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joe-biden-memory-names-gaffes-mistakes-b2493481.html). Biden in the past[ called himself](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/25/joe-biden-2020-public-gaffes-mistakes-history) a “gaffe machine,” but has forcefully pushed back against[ a characterization of him in a special counsel report](https://time.com/6693051/joe-biden-memory-robert-hur/) in February as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” “Age is the only thing we have in common,” Biden said about his opponent in his speech Saturday. “My Vice President actually endorses me,” he quipped, referencing how former Vice President Mike Pence, who did not support Trump’s [false claims that the 2020 election was stolen](https://apnews.com/article/trump-2020-election-lies-debunked-4fc26546b07962fdbf9d66e739fbb50d), is [not endorsing Trump](https://apnews.com/article/pence-trump-endorsement-c05ffad1e20381fed3cfc87b7071ba4c) in 2024\. Biden said he has had a “great stretch” since [his State of the Union address](https://time.com/6898749/biden-state-of-the-union-biggest-moments-highlights-takeaways-border-gaza-trump/%5C) in March. Trump, however, has had a “few tough days lately.” “You might call it stormy weather,” the President remarked, in reference to the name of the adult film star whose accusations are the center of the ongoing criminal trial against Trump. In the rest of his speech, Biden called on the media to move past distractions during election coverage, said journalism was not a crime, and promised that the U.S. was doing everything it could to free [_Wall Street Journal_ reporter Evan Gershkovich](https://time.com/6852858/evan-gershkovich-cover-story/), who is classified by the U.S. as wrongfully detained in Russia. “There are some who call you the ‘enemy of the people,’” Biden said, in reference to Trump’s previous [attacks on journalists using the phrase](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/03/trump-enemy-of-the-people-meaning-history). “That’s wrong and that’s dangerous. You literally risk your lives doing your job.” It’s tradition for the President to attend and speak at the annual dinner for [the White House Correspondents’ Association](https://whca.press/about/), which represents hundreds of journalists covering the White House, although Trump did not do so when he served as President. This year, amid [the Israel-Hamas war](https://time.com/tag/israel-hamas-war/), around [400 protesters gathered outside](https://apnews.com/article/biden-white-house-correspondents-dinner-colin-jost-5843271c1d3a868d700cfc525ddc7f8d) the dinner to protest the Biden Administration’s position on the war and media coverage of it, according to a coalition of activist groups who organized the protest. The war has killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to the Israeli government, and more than 34,000 Palestinians, per Gaza’s health ministry. The death toll includes at least 97 journalists, 92 of them Palestinian, [according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. ](https://cpj.org/2024/04/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/) [Video provided ](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1-xXnvj0EoyfcT7Y16vWRfExI-tl1XRxN)by the organizers shows protesters marching into the Washington Hilton hotel, where the event was held, chanting “Media, media, when you lie, journalists in Gaza die” and carrying a banner that read “Biden’s legacy is genocide.” The protest followed a group of journalists in Gaza [releasing an open letter](https://medium.com/@gazajournalists/appeal-boycott-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-stand-with-your-colleagues-in-gaza-fac979195de6) on April 15 calling for the media to boycott the event. “As Palestinian journalists, we urgently appeal to you, our colleagues globally, with a demand for immediate and unwavering action against the Biden Administration’s ongoing complicity in the systematic slaughter and persecution of journalists in Gaza,” the letter read. Journalist Mehdi Hasan—who [recently left MSNBC](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mehdi-hasan-zeteo-msnbc-palestine.html) after his show was canceled and started his own media organization Zeteo—heeded the call to boycott, [posting on X (formerly Twitter)](https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1784248146375131248) that although he had attended the dinner for the past two years, he would not do so this year in solidarity with Gaza journalists. ## Transcript The 2024 elections in full swing and yes age is an issue. I'm a grown man. Running against the six-year-old. Well, I feel great. I really feel great. I'm campaigning all over the country, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina. I've always done well in the original 13 colonies. Age is the only thing we have in common. My voice present actually endorses me. I had a great stress since the State of the Union. O'Donnell said shoot up days lately. You might call it stormy weather. Trump so desperate he started reading those Bibles he selling. Then he got to the first commandment. You shall have no other gods before me. That's where you put it down and said this book not for me. Journalism is clearly not a crime not here not there. Not anywhere in the world. And put a Chevrolet 7 and also has a meeting with it. Guess we're doing everything we can. You're doing everything you can to bring home journalist fellow journalist, Austin and all Americans like Paul will you know who wrongfully detained all around the world we have to take this seriously. 8 years ago you could have written off as just Trump talk but no longer not after January 6th. I'm sincerely not asking if you to take sides, but asking to rise up to the seriousness of the moment. Move past the horse race numbers in the gotcha moments in the distractions aside shows have come to dominate the centralized over sensationalize our politics. You focus on what you actually steak. I think in your hearts, you know, it was suggested the stakes couldn't be higher. Every single one of us knows Rosa play the serious role to play making sure democracy indoors American democracy. So tonight I'd like to make a toast. 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