Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:03 pm
An unfettered Jimmy Kimmel unleashed a comedy barrage at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In case you missed it, here are Kimmel’s 10 best jokes.
Here’s the video:
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Kimmel started with some pointed humor directed at Obama, “Mr. President, remember when the country rallied behind you in hopes of a better tomorrow? That was hilarious. That was your best one yet.”
“It’s a thrill for me to be here with the president. A man who has I think done his best to guide us through some very difficult times and paid a heavy price for it. You know, there’s a term for guys like President Obama. Probably, not two terms.”
“It’s one thing to oppose gay marriage. It’s another to do it in a sweater best.”
“Hey, is that slug Rush Limbaugh here? People are still upset with Rush for comments he made about Sandra Fluke, but you know what? There is a reason Mr. Limbaugh said what he said, and that reason is Percocet.”
“By the way, just to clear things up for the right wingers. Here’s the difference between Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh. The people who watch Bill Maher know he’s an asshole.”
“I actually have my own theory about Lincoln’s death. I think John Wilkes Booth was innocent. I don’t even think it was an assassination. I believe that Abraham Lincoln had a vision of what the Republican Party would become in 150 years, and he shot himself. Is the Fox table laughing, or did Rupert Murdoch hack into all my jokes already?”
“Ron Paul looks like the guy who gets unhooded at the end of every Scooby Doo episode.”
“It’s fun to have conversations with people who are so passionate about politics. I talked to a guy who is a huge supporter of Obamacare and a guy who says it’s disaster that should be killed immediately. It was interesting, because I’d never met Mitt Romney before.”
“Al Gore launched Current TV in 2005, and it took off like a North Korean rocket.”
“Mr. President, I hope you don’t think I am out of line here, but marijuana is something that real people care about, and the fact that you believe Speaker Boehner when he tells you that he still has control of his party leads me to believe that you must be smoking some crazy great weed yourself.”
The dinner used to be a rather boring affair to honor the White House press corps, but in recent years it’s become more of a celeb infused Event. This year, there were 3,800 formal requests for spots in the 2,700-seat ballroom, with stars vying for invites and mainstream outlets courting their celeb gets.
Tonight’s event was attended by stars Reese Witherspoon, Kevin Spacey, Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Banks, Goldie Hawn, Claire Danes, Sofia Vergara, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Upton, Rosario Dawson, Ivanka Trump and more.
The late night host of Jimmy Kimmel Live was asked if he was told if any jokes were off limits to which he replied, “No, I’ve been given no feedback whatsoever! They didn’t even tell me how long they want me to speak. There seems to be no screening process whatsoever.”
You could see that unlike the Bush years when all material was prescreened and approved by the White House, Kimmel had a pretty long leash. There was little politically that seemed to be off limits. The humor was very bi-partisan, although the current condition of the Republican Party is pure comedy gold. The Grand Old Party has become the Grand Old Punchline, and Jimmy Kimmel took full advantage of it.
President Obama was a good sport. He took the jabs in stride, and while those on the right who perpetually carry their persecution complexes on their backs will definitely scream liberal bias, there was something in Kimmel’s routine for everyone. Kimmel was better than Jay Leno who might have been the worst comedian ever to perform at the dinner, but he was no Stephen Colbert.
Kimmel delivered the laughs, and President Obama showed an ability to laugh at himself, which is one of the biggest reasons there was enough humor on the show for everyone, no matter what side of the aisle you sit on.
