PRESIDENT BARACK Obama wielded the weapon of humour to devastating effect at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night, skewering Republican presidential candidates in general and the New York property magnate Donald Trump – one of the leading contenders – in particular.
"Donald Trump is here tonight!" the commander-in-chief turned comedian in chief announced gleefully. Mr Trump was the guest of the Washington Postnewspaper at the glitzy annual dinner.
“Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately,” the president continued, as Mr Trump smirked in the audience. “But no one is happier, no one is prouder, to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter – like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell [the site of a crash of an alleged extraterrestrial space-craft]? And where are [the slain rap stars] Biggie and Tupac?”
Mr Obama spoke just three days after releasing the long-form birth certificate issued by the state of Hawaii to quell what he termed the “silliness” of “birther” conspiracy theories that he was not born in the US as required by the constitution.
The “birther” controversy had largely subsided until Mr Trump began bringing it up. Mr Trump’s insinuations were effective, with 45 per cent of Republicans telling pollsters they believed Mr Obama was born in another country.
On April 27th, the president said the country was being “distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers”. Mr Trump held a press conference to boast of his “accomplishment” in forcing Mr Obama to release his birth certificate.
At the correspondents' dinner, the music to Hulk Hogan's wrestler's anthem, I Am A Real American, played as Mr Obama rose to speak. "Just in case there are any lingering questions, tonight I'm prepared to go a step further . . . releasing my official birth video," he said.
A clip from Disney's Lion King, where the cub Simba is anointed, was shown on a giant screen.
Mr Obama mocked Mr Trump’s presidential ambitions, saying “he certainly would bring some change to the White House”.
An image of the White House lawn, complete with sexy hostesses, jacuzzis and a glittering sign saying “Trump White House Resort and Casino”, popped up.
Mr Trump grew increasingly sullen as the evening wore on. Seth Myers, the head writer from Saturday Night Live, told the gathering that he had assumed the billionaire was standing for president as a joke.
Referring to the way Mr Trump sweeps his ginger hair forward to hide his bald patch, Mr Myers said it was ironic that Mr Trump often appeared on Fox television “because a fox often appears on Donald Trump’s head”.
Yesterday morning, Mr Trump told the audience at Fox and Friendsthat he hadn't expected to be "virtually the sole focus" of jokes at the dinner.
“I was certainly in a certain way having a good time listening. I don’t think the American people are having a good time with $5 gas . . . I was thinking to myself as they were doing this, you know, the American people are really suffering and we’re all having fun at a gala.”