“They rioted because they didn’t want to work until 64,” Roy Wood Jr. mentioned tonight at tonight on the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner of latest uprisings over pension reform in France. “Meanwhile in America we have an 80-year-old man begging us for four more years of work,” the Daily Show correspondent added with President Joe Biden sitting only a few away
“Let me finish the job,” Wood Jr. went on to say of POTUS’ lately introduced reelection marketing campaign. “That’s not a campaign slogan, that’s a plea.”
Following Biden on the podium of the Washington Hilton in entrance of the Beltway and Hollywood elite for the second in-person WHCD of the present administration, Roy Wood Jr. could not have the identify recognition of his previous boss and final 12 months’s headliner Trevor Noah, however the Alabama-raised comedian was on fireplace on Saturday. In a routine that went from mockery of the highly effective to a meditation on racism, sexism (particularly towards VP Kamala Harris), bruised American democracy and the necessity for an trustworthy free press, Wood introduced the home down and left a powerful POTUS efficiency as a fond reminiscence.
“Tonight, we are all unified under one thing, and that’s scandal,” Wood Jr. mentioned early in his remarks. “Scandals have been devouring careers this year,” he famous of the pink slipping of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon by Fox News and CNN and the $787.5 million settlement the Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet made on day 1 of what appeared to be a scathing defamation trial from Dominion Voting Systems over false 2020 election claims.
“The untouchable Tucker Carlson is out of a job,” Wood Jr. mentioned with excellent pitch from the presidential sealed podium. “Some people celebrate it,” he declared to an viewers that primarily have been clearly glad to see the one-time rankings kingpin knocked off his perch. “To Tucker’s staff, I want you to know that I know what you’re feeling. I work at The Daily Show so I too have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake-news-program,” he added with a comparability to Noah leaving the Comedy Central collection in latest months. Tucker bought caught up. Got caught up like that dude from Vanderpump Rules,” he mentioned with members of the limbo low Bravo actuality present within the crowd.
“Speaking of assholes, Don Lemon is out of a job,” Wood Jr went on to say, relating materials beforehand explored in a softer method by Biden. “Don Lemon. My dog, Don Lemon. Don Lemon released a statement saying he got fired from CNN, then CNN released a statement saying that they offered Don a meeting. They had to part ways, because Don Lemon can’t even accurately report a story about Don Lemon.”
Of course, with the First and Second Families seated on the WHCD prime desk proper subsequent to him, Wood Jr was honor certain to take sharp swipes at Biden and Vice-President Harris. Part of the glory of his routine tonight was how the one time journalism scholar flipped the script repeatedly and deftly.
“Say what you want with our president, when he wakes up from that nap, work gets done,” Wood Jr famous of Biden, who is continually criticized for his age and gaffs. “He might doze off but then it’s infrastructure bill. Student loan forgiveness. Bring Brittney Griner home.”
Ripping into the scandals of Donald Trump’s presidency and post-presidency, Wood Jr. regarded on the present administration’s personal mushy underbelly, form of.
“I think the most insulting scandal of the Biden administration was placed at the feet of our Madam Vice President,” Wood Jr said returning to his important theme. “The scandal of: what does Kamala do?” he continued. “Which is a disrespectful question. That’s a disrespectful question, because nobody ever asked that question of the vice president until a woman got the job,” Wood Jr, mentioned. “I don’t know what Mike Pence did. The only thing I know about Mike Pence is that he’s really good at playing hide-and-seek at the Capitol.”
“At the end of the day, as a vice president, the only thing you got to do is just be better than Dick Cheney,” Wood Jr deadpanned in reference to the Veep who was pleased with his Darth Vader nickname. “If a VP’s job is really just waiting to step in to save the country in case of emergency, then the job of vice president is the perfect job for a black woman, shouldn’t be but it is,” the WHCD headliner exclaimed as the gang waited to see the place he was going to take all this. “And no matter you do accomplish no matter you do accomplish all they gonna do is simply give a person credit score for something you do …they only gonna give a person credit score for what you do. And by the best way, Mr. President nice job of being the primary girl vp …I don’t even know the way you probably did that, great job.
Unlike Biden and Harris, scandal plagued Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was not on the WHCD tonight, however he was on the considerate Wood Jr’s goal listing – in humorous and never so humorous
“Anti-CRT policies are an attack on Black history and an attempt to erase the contributions of Black people,” Wood Jr mentioned of GOP and different’s lambasting of important race principle as an idea and a curriculum. “A lot of Black people wouldn’t mind some of that erasure… as long as that Black person is Clarence Thomas,” Wood Jr hit with the punchline on the conservative and controversial justice, “We can all see Clarence Thomas… but he belongs to billionaire Harlan Crow — and that’s what an NFT is,” Wood Jr went on to say, bringing the undeclared luxurious journey, actual property offers and extra Justice Thomas and his household have been the beneficiaries of from a person who had had enterprise in entrance of the SCOTUS.
Taking his debut second within the Beltway WHCD highlight and together with his mom within the ballroom, Wood Saturday additionally made a degree of turning the sunshine on the work that his mother and father did of their comminutes and the world. The comic additionally provided reward for the ability of native journalism in a nation the place many cities and cities are shedding native reporting.
Daring to problem the bigwigs in entrance of him and their enterprise mannequin, together with Shari Redstone and several other of his Paramount Global bosses, the veteran stand-up comedian gave the media some recommendation of their finest curiosity in in the present day’s divided America. “All the essential, fair and nuanced reporting,” Wood Jr famous. “It’s all stuck behind a pay wall…say what you want about a conspiracy theory but at least it’s affordable.”
Not for the primary nor final time tonight Roy Wood Jr bought a rousing and nicely deserved response.
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