US President Joe Biden has slammed his rival Donald Trump, criticizing his immaturity.
Speaking Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, the 81-year-old addressed concerns that he would be too old for a second presidential term.
“Yes, age is an issue. I’m an adult facing a six-year-old,” he said, referring to his 77-year-old Republican opponent.
But in a more serious moment, the president told the assembled journalists: “I am sincerely not asking you to take sides.
“I ask you to live up to the seriousness of the moment.
“Get past the horse racing numbers, the trappings and distractions, the spectacles that have come to dominate and sensationalize our politics, and focus on what is really at stake.”
Mr Biden did not acknowledge the hundreds of protesters standing outside the event calling for an end to US support for Israel.
Previously, he had arrived at the scene through a rear entrance, avoiding most of the protesters.
Outside the main entrance, some shouted “Shame on you!”, running after the well-dressed attendees as they rushed inside for dinner.
Some chanted accusations that American journalists are not paying enough attention to the war and are distorting it, shouting: “Western media, we see you and all the horrors you hide.”
They were not alone: More than two dozen journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week calling on their U.S.-based colleagues to boycott the dinner.
The letter said: “The toll imposed on us simply for carrying out our journalistic duties is staggering.
“We are subjected to detention, interrogation and torture by the Israeli army – all for the ‘crime’ of journalistic integrity.”
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Israel declared war on Hamas and launched an air and ground offensive in Gaza in response to the attack on southern Israel on October 7, when Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostages.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have sought refuge in Rafah, where Israel carries out near-daily raids as it prepares for a possible offensive in the city.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At the beginning of April, Reporters Without Borders counted more than 105 journalists killed in the region since October 7, including at least 22 killed while carrying out their work.
The protests outside the Correspondents’ Dinner come as a protest movement sweeps America’s universities – a growing revolt among a demographic Mr Biden will need to beat Mr Trump.
