Obama mocks his 'stellar 2013' at White House Correspondents' Dinner
President Obama took his annual turn as comic-in-chief Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, mocking his Republican foes in Congress, bemoaning Washington gridlock — which he blamed on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) — and even taking a few shots at himself.
"I usually start these dinners with a few self-deprecating jokes," he said. "After my stellar 2013, what could I possibly talk about?"
He then quipped that the past year was so embarrassing for the White House that, "the 47 percent called Mitt Romney to apologize." And referencing the flawed ObamaCare launch, he said his slogan went from "Yes we can," to "control, alt, delete," the keyboard shortcut for a hard reboot.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The whole bit is worth a watch. Stick around for the bonus cameo from Kathleen Sebelius — the former Health and Human Services secretary whom some blamed for the early ObamaCare woes — who tried to help Obama sort out a technical snafu during his speech. --Jon Terbush
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Massacre in the favela: Rio’s police take on the gangsIn the Spotlight The ‘defence operation’ killed 132 suspected gang members, but could spark ‘more hatred and revenge’
-
The John Lewis ad: touching, or just weird?Talking Point This year’s festive offering is full of 1990s nostalgia – but are hedonistic raves really the spirit of Christmas?
-
Sudoku hard: November 15, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
