President Obama Takes Aim At Networks at WHCD

The White House Correspondents Dinner, aka the Nerd Prom, tends to be an evening where Washington, D.C. journalists and others celebrate themselves and pat themselves on the back a little bit, with an appearance by the president expected. Everyone was fair game. With jokes about Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, John Boehner, and of course himself, President Obama was sparing no one in his barbs, and everyone was fair game, especially if they happened to be sitting in the audience. If it's true, as CNN reported in its preview of the WHCD, that presidents hate the event, Obama certainly seemed to be enjoying it as much as possible. President Obama had no problem roasting reporters and their networks, and he took some sharp jabs at a couple of specific networks.

When he thanked host Cecily Strong, Obama launched in with a reference to one of her best known impressions: "On Saturday Night Live, Cecily impersonates CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin. Which is surprising, because usually the only people impersonating journalists on CNN are journalists on CNN."

The cold winter had similarities to another of the cable news networks, the president added. "As always, the reporters here had a lot to cover over the last year here on the East Coast. One big story was the brutal winner. The polar vortex caused so many record lows, they renamed it MSNBC."

When Keegan Michael Key offered his Angry Obama translation, he yelled that "We can count on Fox News to terrify some old white people with some nonsense."

And it wasn't just President Obama and his "angry translator" poking fun at the press corps. Host Cecily Strong followed the president's remarks, and offered a few choice zingers as well, with a shout-out to the print reporters who were "bussing the tables," and a jab at poor C-SPAN.

But Strong stopped short of making a joke about disgraced NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams. "What can I say about Brian Williams?" she started. "Nothing. Because I work for NBC!"

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