Colin Jost roasts Biden's age, jokes about wife ScarJo and cocaine at White House Correspondents' Dinner
The Weekend Update host's 20-minute monologue also included several jabs at Trump.By Megan Vick
Published on April 28, 2024 02:44PM EDT
Colin Jost's best jokes at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
'SNL' star Colin Jost made jokes about his wife, Scarlett Johansson, and President Biden doing cocaine at the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Colin Jost had his work cut out for him at the 2024 White House Correspondents' dinner. The Saturday Night Live writer and Weekend Update cohost delivered the gala's keynote roast Saturday, tackling many topics, from the state of print media and Donald Trump's multiple trials to the upcoming election and our current president doing cocaine.
Some of the comedian's more successful jokes came at the expense of his wife, Scarlett Johansson. He opened his speech by greeting the First and Second families and remarked to Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, "As you can tell by all the comments about my wife, I am also used to being the Second Gentleman."
Thought he faced a tough crowed at times, Jost also won laughs towards the end of his speech when he quipped that Johansson would individually greet every person at the dinner after the ceremony. "That’s really special, honey, thank you," he said. "Don’t be shy, come right up. She hates privacy."
Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost at the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner.
PAUL MORIGI/GETTY
Per tradition at any White House Correspondents' Dinner, the president was also the butt of several jokes. Jost focused mostly on Joe Biden's age, including claims that the Commander-in-Chief has grown senile in his golden years.
"The last time I was in D.C. I left my cocaine at the White House," said Jost, referring to the mysterious bag of the drug found there last July. "Luckily, the president was able to put it to good use for his State of the Union. I am kidding, of course. The president doesn’t call it cocaine. He calls it high-speed rail."
Jost also pointed out the hypocrisy of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump attacking Biden's age. "I love that Trump’s two attacks on President Biden are that he’s a senile old man and a criminal mastermind," he said. "I think you [have] got to pick one. It’s not like Trump himself is young and sharp. I am not saying both candidates are old, but you know Jimmy Carter is out there thinking, 'I could maybe win this thing.'"
Colin Jost at the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner.
PAUL MORIGI/GETTY
The comic also made multiple jabs at Trump's ongoing legal battles, but his funniest barb addressed whom Trump may select as his running mate.
“Now that O.J. [Simpson] is dead, who is the frontrunner for Trump’s VP? Is it Diddy?" Jost asked the crowd. "I bet if Trump did select Diddy as his running mate, this race would still be tied.”
Jost ended his speech on a sincere note, emphasizing how integral print media and journalists are to protecting democracy.
"When you look at levels of freedom throughout history and even around the world today, this is the exception," he said. "This freedom is incredibly rare, and the journalists in this room help protect that freedom. We cannot ever take that for granted."
