Although Colin Jost is no stranger to solo stand-up comedy, most of America recognizes him best as part of a duo. He is known for being the host of “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live, working alongside the much bolder, more dangerous Michael Che. How would Yost have done on his own? The answer, it turns out, is a perfectly good one. His roast at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night wasn’t as brutal as Stephen Colbert’s famous WHCD roast in 2006, but it sure was entertaining.
Yost predictably focused heavily on speculation that President Joe Biden might be too old to run for re-election, opening his speech with, “I have to admit, it’s not easy following President Biden… I mean that it’s not always easy to follow what he says.”
The comedian also referenced Biden’s viral stumble on the stairs of Air Force One and played down allegations that Biden was high on amphetamines during his recent high-energy State of the Union address. “The last time I was in D.C. I left my cocaine at the White House,” Yost said in what initially appeared to be a joke about Yost’s Republican demeanor, before adding, “Thankfully, the president was able to put it to good use for the State of the Union , of course, the president doesn’t call it cocaine—he calls it high-speed rail.
Lest anyone think he was too hard on Biden, however, Yost was quick to point out the double standard in how the two presidential candidates’ ages are portrayed in the media. “I’d like to point out that it’s after 10 p.m. Sleepy Joe is still awake while Donald Trump has spent the last week falling asleep in court every morning.” Jost later added, “I’m not saying that both candidates are old but you i know Jimmy Carter is over there thinking, “Maybe I can win this thing.”
Jost’s most effective jokes were about Biden’s poll results, when he expressed frustration and disbelief that the race was still so tight. “The Republican presidential candidate owes half a billion in bank fraud fines and is currently spending his days farting awake during a porn star trial, and the race is tied up?”
In a far more candid joke, Jost told the audience, “My Weekend Update co-host Michael Che was going to join me tonight, but in solidarity with President Biden, I’ve decided to lose all my blackness support.” The line got some applause (and a lot of groans) from the audience, so Yost added, “That you told me to say it and I’m just now realizing I was set up.”
Yost also poked fun at a bunch of major newspapers in his roast, explaining how he “forgot” that New York Times “do things in addition to puzzles.” He reminded the audience that Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch had recently stepped down, adding, “Which is strange — I didn’t think there was a retreat from Fox News.” He reflected on how artificial intelligence could to replace most journalists in the public and how puzzles like Wordle are the only things keeping many newspapers afloat.
One of his darkest jokes, one that really ventured into dangerous territory, briefly touched on the recent college student protests surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “The Correspondents’ Association provides scholarships to promising young journalism students who may one day be sent to cover dangerous geopolitical hotspots like Columbia University,” he quipped with a muffled laugh.
Much better received by the audience was his later joke, which took advantage of the recent death of OJ Simpson. “Obama caught Bin Laden. You have OJ,” he told Biden. “And by the way, now that OJ is dead, who is Trump’s new VP favorite? Is it Didi?’
Some of it may have seemed in poor taste, but luckily for Jost, the first comedian to perform at the dinner was Matt Friend, a rising stand-up comedian, who came out brandishing a lightning-fast collection of punchlines, most of which failed miserably. . “Right now I’m burning like that guy in court,” he said joked in a Trump impression, to audience members who appeared to be hostages. “I kill this dinner harder than Christy Noem kills puppies.”
Yost’s roast looked downright healthy by comparison, especially when he finished it off with a touching tribute to his late grandfather, William Kelly. He described him as a “Staten Island firefighter” and a pillar of his community. “He’s voting for you,” Yost told Biden, “and the reason he’s voting for you is because you’re a decent person. My grandfather voted for decency, and decency is why we’re all here tonight.
President Biden covered many of the same points when he took the stage, making sure to address concerns about his age and turn it into a weakness against his opponent. “Yes, age is an issue: I’m a grown man fighting against a 6-year-old,” he said to laughter and cheers. “I really feel great. I’m campaigning across the country. Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina. I always did well in the original 13 colonies.”
Biden nodded to the evolving public persona of his career by pointing this out SNL has cast an almost unprecedented eight different actors to play him over the course of the show. “And who the hell says I’m not creating real jobs?”
The president also responded to criticism that he was too anti-press. He shouted New York Times for their recent statement accusing him of “actively and effectively avoiding[ing] questions from independent journalists,” answering “Hey, if that’s what it takes to get New York Times to say I’m active and effective, I’m all for it.’
His main focus, like Yost’s, was on highlighting how much worse a candidate Donald Trump is and how the election should not be as close as current polls indicate. “[Trump] said he wanted to be a dictator on day one and much more. He tells his supporters that it is their revenge and retribution. When on earth have you ever heard another president say something like that?
Biden concluded his thoughts on the election with a somber plea: “We have to take this seriously. Eight years ago this could have been written off as just Trump talk, but not anymore, not after January 6th. I’m honestly not asking you to take sides, but I am asking you [you] to rise to the seriousness of the moment.’
