best of c-span

Trevor Noah Brings Clapter, Impressions to White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Trevor Noah headlined the first White House Correspondents’ Dinner since 2019 on Saturday night, with a set that elicited some groans and much clapter from the packed room. Noah, moving at a rapid clip through his 25-minute remarks, opened by calling C-SPAN’s hottest night “the nation’s most distinguished superspreader event.” He went on to take aim at, among others, Kyrsten Sinema, Ron DeSantis, Meghan McCain, the New York Times and Maggie Haberman, as well as Laura Ingraham, of whom he noted: “What can you say about her that hasn’t already been said by the Anti-Defamation League?”

The set also included many, many impressions: the requisite Trump and Obama ones, as well as some random ones. Noah, though he did perfectly well with a difficult gig, didn’t land the biggest laugh of the night. That honor went to POTUS, for one unexpectedly pointed joke. “Everyone had to prove they are fully vaccinated and boosted,” Biden said during his remarks. “So, if you are at home watching this, and you are wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted, all of them.”

Earlier in the night, we also got some pre-taped segments from James Corden, who led a White House press briefing, and Billy Eichner, who handed out awards to entertainment journalists (it would have been an honor just to be nominated). Watch Corden and Eichner’s bits below.

Trevor Noah Headlines White House Correspondents’ Dinner