Obama Takes Down Dick Cheney and The Koch Brothers At White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:21 am

President Obama came out swinging and pulled no punches while taking out Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, and devoted an entire segment to the Koch Brothers during his White House Correspondents’ Dinner remarks.

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Obama kicked it off with a joke about Joe Biden shoulder massages. Obama quipped after the midterms that he didn’t have a bucket list, but he has something that rhymed with bucket list. Immigration executive action, bucket it.

The President made a joke about being a secret Muslim. Obama made a joke about his looks, “I look so old, John Boehner’s has already invited Netanyahu to speak at my funeral.” The president said that his legacy is beginning to take shape. He said today, thanks to Obamacare you no longer have to worry about losing your health insurance if you lose your job. You’re welcome Senate Democrats.”

Obama leveled Dick Cheney, “A few weeks ago Dick Cheney said he thinks I am the worst president of his lifetime, which is interesting because I think Dick Cheney is the worst president of my lifetime.”

The President next took out Mike Huckabee for saying that Americans shouldn’t join the military until Obama leaves office, “Mike Huckabee recently said people should join our military until a true conservative is elected president. Think about that. It was so outrageous that forty-seven Ayatollahs wrote us a letter trying to explain how our system works.”

Obama took out Michele Bachmann for her prediction that he would bring about the end of days, “Now, that’s a legacy. Lincoln, Washington, they didn’t do that.”

President Obama made a Hillary Clinton joke. I have one friend just a few weeks ago she was making millions of dollars a year, and she is now living out of a van in Iowa.”

Obama took a jab at the media, including CNN. The President drew groans for a joke about MSNBC’s record low ratings.

President Obama pounced on Jeb Bush for identifying himself as Hispanic, “Look, I understand. It’s an innocent mistake. It reminds of when I identified myself as an American in 1961.”

None of the jokes were hurtful or malicious, but President Obama definitely brought the funny to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His other jokes included takedowns to Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum.

Obama took out the Koch brothers and compared Rubio, Cruz, Rand Paul, and Scott Walker to The Bachelor. Obama took out the Kochs and said it was insulting to the candidates that the Koch brothers have to spend a billion dollars to get voters to like them.

The highlight of the event came at the end when Keegan-Michael Key came out to act as Obama’s anger translator Luther.

This was one of the best sets of jokes from Obama at the WHCD during his presidency. It was great fun and a must watch.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association