White House Correspondents' Dinner Video Takes on New Context

The White House Correspondents' Dinner video was studied for jokes, and Donald Trump bashing, on Saturday and early Sunday. But after Sunday night, the Correspondents' Dinner had an entirely different context. After that, the video of President Obama laughing at an Osama bin Laden joke took on a far different meaning, as did all of the other one-liners. While those working in the White House were all smiles Saturday night, it hid how on-edge they must have been for the next day's event.

The big headlines immediately after Saturday night's show were about Donald Trump and how he was a big target of two comedic speeches. Both President Obama and Seth Meyers took aim at Trump, which helped pile things on after he lost the ability to complain about the president's birth certificate.

However, following Sunday night, the most popular video clip involved a joke about bin Laden. When Meyers joked that a good place for him to hide would be on C-Span, the president gave a notable laugh -- or at least that's how everyone interpreted it.

Since Obama knew full well where bin Laden really was, and that the White House would order a raid on his compound just hours later, it added a huge dose of irony to the dinner. In fact, his laughter over Meyer's one-liner was later studied for clues to see if he actually gave any tells to what was really going on. But since the president kept the operation a secret for that long, he likely knew how not to give anything away by then.

The focus on that bit after bin Laden's death was rather symbolic, in many ways. Before Sunday night, the big talking point of the dinner was Donald Trump, just as he was the big talking point across the country. But for the first time in weeks, Trump and his antics -- and the jokes about them -- were knocked from the headlines, which not even the birth certificate revelation could do.

The White House found a significant way to change the headlines, which may be why Obama was more free to laugh at Trump and bin Laden. But considering the pressure-packed situation he would be in the next day, he had to relax anyway he could. If the raid failed and bin Laden got away, the video clip of Saturday night's joke would have taken on a more infamous context.

Even by recent standards, the aftermath of the Correspondents' Dinner is unprecedented. The event has been criticized for its often too close relationship between the president and the press, and faced a firestorm when Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush in 2006. Yet this year's event has found a new level of fame, irony and history, achieving the mix 24 hours after the event was over.

Sources

YouTube- "Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner"

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette- "Obama's sense of timing hits a new high"

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Obama takes aim at Trump in White House dinner jokes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama told jokes at the expense of real estate mogul Donald Trump on Saturday night, mocking his possible presidential ambitions in remarks at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

With Trump and some other potential 2012 presidential election rivals in the audience of celebrities, politicians and journalists, Obama suggested that the weightiest decisions Trump makes are firing people on his reality television show "Celebrity Apprentice."

"I think we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience," he said of Trump, drawing laughs.

Obama singled out a recent episode of "Celebrity Apprentice," in which Trump fired a contender in one of his trademark televised business challenges.

"These are the kinds of issues that would keep me up at night," Obama deadpanned. "Well handled, Sir, well handled."

"Say what you want about Mr. Trump," the president added. "He certainly would bring change to the White House."

Big video screens then showed an image of what was labeled "Trump, The White House." The mock-up showed bikini-clad girls frolicking in a fountain on the White House front lawn.

Trump led the so-called "birther" critics of Obama who challenged whether the president was born in the United States. The New York-based businessman took credit when Obama this week released his complete birth certificate to quell the talk.

Trump also ripped Obama and other U.S. political leaders in a profanity-laced speech in Las Vegas this week, calling them "stupid."

(Editing by Greg McCune)

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Obama takes on allies and opponents with correspondents' dinner jokes

A feisty President Obama took on both his political opponents and allies in a joke-filled speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington on Saturday.

The president stepped off the dais as he was being introduced just before 10 p.m. and his monologue opened with a pre-produced music video, which took some shots at the controversy surrounding his place of birth.

The song: "Real American" by Rick Derringer.

For those who don't remember the tune from Hulk Hogan's WWF entrances, the chorus is, "I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man." On the video screens around the packed Hilton ballroom, images of Obama's recently released long-form birth certificate were spliced with various clips of Americana.

“My fellow Americans,” he said with a big smile after the video ended. “Mahalo.”

Since the White House released the official copy of his birth certificate, Obama has made jokes about the "birther" theory that questions whether he was born in the United States, and he expanded on them in his speech.

“Just in case there are any lingering questions, tonight I am prepared to go a step further," the president said. "Tonight for the first time I am releasing my official birth video."

When the videotape rolled for the audience, it was a clip from Disney's animated film "The Lion King," showing a newborn cub on the African plains.

“Oh well, back to square one,” Obama quipped.

Before long the president tried to turn the tables on Republicans who are considering challenging him in 2012.

First up was Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

"She is thinking about running for president, which is weird because I hear she was born in Canada," Obama said. "Yes Michele this is how it starts; just letting you know."

Next came former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.?

"He seems all-American, but have you heard his real middle name?" Obama asked. "Tim Hosni Pawlenty, what a shame."

The recently returned ambassador to China, John Huntsman was next up.?

"There's something you didn't know about John: He didn't learn Chinese to go there, oh no, he learned English to come here," Obama said.

The president took a shot a former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, too, although it wasn't about his citizenship.?

"Then there's a vicious rumor floating around about Mitt Romney. I hear he passed universal healthcare when he was governor of Massachusetts," Obama said.

But the president saved the bulk of his jokes for Donald Trump, the real estate mogul and reality TV star who had been aggressively questioning Obama's place of birth.

Now that the birth certificate issue was settled, Obama said, Trump, who watched expressionlessly from the audience, could focus on other well-known conspiracy theories, such as "did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"

Obama followed up with a quip about the decisions Trump had to make on his show, "Celebrity Apprentice."

"These are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night," the president said.

Obama didn't spare his supporters from scrutiny. He even made a joke about first lady Michelle Obama and her anti-obesity campaign.

"We made a terrific team at the Easter Egg Roll this week," he said. "I give out bags of candy to the kids, and she'd snatch them right back out of their little hands."

The president also noted that he had let down his "his key, core constituency: movie stars."?

"Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance," Obama said. "Well, Matt, I just saw 'The Adjustment Bureau,' so right back at you, buddy."

The jokes about Hollywood didn't stop there. In the most complex gag of the night, the president had some fun at the expense of Vice President Joe Biden, as well as himself.

With a slickly produced mock-movie trailer, Obama introduced a new film called "The President's Speech," which shows what would happen if Congress had defunded the president's teleprompter.

The video was filled with a series of clips of Obama flubbing lines at various real-life tapings, and the voice over says, "In his darkest hour, the president turned to a man who never let prepared remarks stand in his way ..."

Some of Biden's more memorable comments followed, with the narrator adding, "It's mostly just this for two hours."

Watch "The President's Speech Trailer" below:

 

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Jokes aside, Trollope takes on mother-in-law struggles

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