US President Joe Biden attacked former President Donald Trump on Saturday with jokes about his opponent's mental fitness during a speech at the Gridiron Club dinner, a Washington tradition that began in the 1880s.
“A candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president. The other is me”, commented Biden in front of more than 650 guests, which included the founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, and the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, whose businesses in the US could be banned by Biden.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The Republican also questions Biden's mental capacity to be president.
Biden's presence at the dinner, where politicians and journalists exchange humorous barbs at a formal event, was the first time a president had attended in person since former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Biden, 81, recently won the Democratic nomination for this year's presidential election and will face Trump, 77, in a rematch in November.
The Democrat is trying to positively impact voters, boost his approval ratings and dispel concerns that he is too old to run again.
Biden reinforced the importance of the press, which he said was not “the enemy of the people”, in stark contrast to Trump's previous remarks about the media.
He also spoke about the war in Ukraine with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who attended Saturday's dinner. “We will not bow, they (Ukrainians) will not bow to us and we will not bow,” he highlighted.
After his speech, Biden took selfies with reporters and called a guest's mother.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, representing the Democratic party at the event, also spoke, as did Utah Governor Spencer Cox, representing the Republican party.
Cox, 48, joked that he was announcing his candidacy for president “in 2052, when I will still be younger than President Biden and President Trump.”
More seriously, she said there is a hunger among Americans for something more positive in politics.
The club's 65 members, all representatives of news organizations, performed satirical songs and skits. One song mocked the ages of Biden and Trump to the tune of “When I’m Sixty-Four” by the Beatles.
At last year's dinner, Mike Pence, who served as Trump's vice president, sharply rebuked his former boss, saying history would hold Trump accountable for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Source: CNN Brasil
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