Washington: President Barack Obama joked about
Russian President Vladimir Putin and issues much closer to home as he headlined
the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday night. The
annual tradition has the president mocking others and himself as celebrities
mingle with journalists and politicians. Obama made fun of conservative
television hosts' talk about Putin's bare chest and one's comment last year
about Putin being headed for a Nobel Peace Prize. "To be fair, they give
those to just about anybody these days," said Obama, a laureate himself.
The president also joked about opposition claims that he had been born overseas
instead of the United States.
Looking ahead to a possible successor in office,
Obama said it will be a lot harder for Republicans to prove that Hillary Rodham
Clinton was born in Kenya. The president poked fun at CNN's extensive coverage
of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. He said he was still
jet-lagged from his visit in recent days to Malaysia and added, "The
lengths we have to go to get CNN coverage these days!" Obama also turned
the humor on himself and his difficult 2013, including the deeply troubled
rollout of the website for his health care overhaul. First Lady Michelle Obama
accompanied him to the black tie event, and Joel McHale, star of the NBC series
"Community," was the dinner's featured entertainer. Celebrities
attending included Sofia Vergara and the stars of Washington-centric shows like
"Veep" and "Scandal." The dinner has often come at key
moments of Obama's presidency. In 2011, Obama showed up the day before special
operations troops killed Osama bin Laden. Last year's dinner came nearly two
weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon. This time, the U.S. and Europe are
anxiously watching Ukraine and Russia's role in the turbulence in the eastern
region of the former Soviet state. The correspondent's association, which
represents the White House press corps, is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Several journalists were awarded prizes for their coverage of the presidency
and national issues. Glenn Thrush of Politico and Brianna Keilar of CNN won the
Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the
presidency. Peter Baker of The New York Times and Peter Maer of CBS News won
the Merriman Smith Award for deadline coverage. Megan Twohey of Reuters and a
partnership between The Center for Public Integrity's Chris Hamby and ABC News'
Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues
of national significance.
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