It is tradition for the president to deliver a loud speech at the annual dinner of the press corps covering national politics. Politicians and celebrities also attend the annual banquet.
While Trump crashed the correspondents' party several times, Biden did as expected, offering sharp criticism of Trump and advising reporters. Thus, the 81-year-old highlighted his age.
– Yes, age is an issue. I am a grown man. And I'm competing against a six-year-old, joking about his 77-year-old rival, who hasn't escaped a single comment.
Age is the only thing we have in common. “The Vice President does support me,” Biden later said, before making an appeal to the reporters in attendance.
– I am in no way asking you to choose a side. I ask you to be worthy of the seriousness of the moment. Look at the measurements and attempts to “take” the other side, at the distractions and all the surrounding circus that has come to dominate politics and make it exciting. Focus on what's really at stake, the speaker said.
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But at the same time that the mood rose among politicians, journalists and other guests inside the hall, demonstrators stood outside and protested the war in Gaza. They encouraged many guests to boycott the ceremony. Biden himself avoided most of the protesters by taking the back road, but a group of protesters found their way there as well and voiced their demands for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
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