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Trevor Noah, the host of the 2022 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, took aim at President Biden during his set, making jokes about inflation, the president’s approval rating and the botched evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, throwing a quip in at the end of his remarks that the Biden administration “doesn’t handle evacuations well.”
“Ever since you came into office, things are already looking up,” Noah said in his remarks. “Gas is up, rent is up, food is up.”
Americans have been plagued by inflation and rising prices in recent months. Biden was seen laughing in response to the joke.
FILE – Trevor Noah appears at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. Noah will host the 64th annual Grammy Awards on April 3. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
Fox News contributor Karol Markowicz told Fox Digital that it was “gross” to watch the president laugh off the high price of gas and food, which is “affecting regular Americans not attending fancy black tie dinners.” She added that those in attendance were some of the “most out of touch people in the country.”
“There it is: Complete and utter scorn for working families coming from Biden and Democrats,” Jesus E. Solorio, Jr., of the Rhode Island Republican Party tweeted. “They believe struggling families are nothing more but a punchline.”
Noah also quipped about why he was chosen as the host of the dinner and then said to the president, “but then I was told you get your highest approval ratings with a biracial African guy standing next to you.”
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Noah also raised some eyebrows at the evening’s conclusion on social media when he quipped about how Biden handled the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan last August.
“Please be careful leaving tonight,” Noah said as the attendees began filing for the exits. “We all know this administration doesn’t handle evacuations well.”
The Media Research Center’s Dan Gainor told Fox News Digital that the Afghanistan joke wasn’t “surprising.”
President Biden speaks during an event to celebrate labor unions, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan exit was a breaking point for many liberals. It was so thoroughly botched that it’s an easy joke line. But using that standard, Noah could have made the whole night’s routine blasting Biden,” Gainor said. “Noah was still mostly there to attack the people the press consider enemies, conservatives.”
Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., said on Twitter that it was a joke “at the expense of the tens of thousands of Afghan allies we left behind to rot” that Chief of Staff Ron Klain “wants to forget bc it’s the reason why Biden’s favs/unfavs are absolutely dismal.”
Tommy Pigott, the rapid response director for the Republican National Committee, noted in response to a clip on Twitter, that “13 people died trying to save people from his mistakes.”
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President Biden announces a ban on Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
“Given the president’s approval is at 33% and with everything going wrong from inflation to crime to the border to education to obviously fatally botched withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, if Trevor Noah decided to avoid all of that in an effort to avoid offending those in the room… He would’ve had to have surrendered his comedian card permanently,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital of the comedian’s act.
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Biden spoke at the dinner before Noah took the mic, emphasizing the importance of a free press. He said that unlike in Russia, the comedian could stand at the podium and mock the president without going to jail.
The president poked fun of the “Let’s go Brandon” slogan and his low approval rating, saying Republicans “seem to support some guy named Brandon.”
“He’s having a really good year. And I’m happy for him!” Biden joked.
Fox News’ Cortney O’Brien contributed to this report.
