Obama Roasts Trump at Correspondents' Dinner
Trump glared as the president used him as comedic punching bag
.At the start of the evening last night at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Donald Trump made the night's worst prediction: "I wouldn't think [Obama] would address me" during his stand-up routine.
Quite the reverse, it turned out.
In the days leading up to the dinner, many were unimpressed that the Washington Post even invited Trump as their guest. Salon's Alex Pareene asked, "Why would the Washington Post, as an institution, officially align themselves with a living freak show?" It turns out the anti-Trump sentiment continued all the way to the red carpet. The Wrap reported that Trump was booed on arrival at Hilton. And things got worse from there.
When President Obama took to the stage Saturday night, he seemed injected with a fresh sense of humor after the release of his birth certificate. “What a week it’s been,” he said, telling the audience he had a special treat: a never-seen-before video of his birth in 1961. What flashed on the screen was the birth scene from "The Lion King" movie.
But after taking on the birthers, Obama turned his attention to the most watched politician-celebrity at the event, the Donald.
"Donald Trump is here tonight,” said Obama. “Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate to rest than The Donald. Now he can get to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened at Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”
According to the New York Times, Trump was "hair-gelled, grimly unsmiling" during the roast.
It was almost painful to watch, the juxtaposition of the president, flexing his new post-birther comedy chops, and the real estate mogul-cum-politician, grimacing at his table as Mr. Obama basked in his post-long-form-birth-certificate glow.
Things were looking bad for Trump -- and Obama was merely the warm-up act. Comedic host, SNL's Seth Meyers, hadn't even come on stage yet.
If Trump appeared humorless during Obama's speech, he looked downright furious when Meyers began his round of mockery. Some of Meyers' best Trump jokes: "Donald Trump often appears on Fox, which is ironic, because a fox often appears on Donald Trump's head." (Trump glares icily.) Then, "Donald Trump owns the Miss USA pageant, which is good for Republicans, because it will streamline their search for Vice President." (Trump keeps grimacing.) And, "Donald Trump said recently he has a great relationship with 'the Blacks,' though unless 'the Blacks' is a family of White people, I think he is greatly mistaken." (Cut to Obama chuckling over this one).
Fox News called the Trump roast Obama's "revenge" "after weeks of attack."
Video of Obama's speech.
Video of Seth Meyers' speech.