D.C. may take pride in its reputation for sultry summertime swelter, but Friday seemed the sort of day for wondering what all the fuss was about and whether the reputation was deserved.
Washington, D.C
Biden says at DC roast that of 2 presidential candidates, 1 was mentally unfit. ‘The other’s me’
![Biden says at DC roast that of 2 presidential candidates, 1 was mentally unfit. ‘The other’s me’ Biden says at DC roast that of 2 presidential candidates, 1 was mentally unfit. ‘The other’s me’](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/65f66c1e41caf8.10977180.jpeg?w=1280)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The big news this week, President Joe Biden said at a weekend Washington roast, was that two candidates had clinched their party’s nomination for president. But one was too old, too mentally unfit for the job, he said.
“The other’s me,” Bidden quipped.
The digs against Republican Donald Trump kept coming from the president at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner, as Biden deflected ongoing criticism that his memory is hazy and he appears confused, instead highlighting moments when the 77-year-old Trump has slipped up, too.
“Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama, that’s what he said,” said Biden, 81, who also quipped that he was staying up way past his bedtime.
It was the first time Biden has attended the dinner during his presidency, and comes as the 2024 election looms and the rematch between Biden and Trump heats up. The annual bacchanalia, now in its 139th year, traces its history to 1885 — that was the year President Grover Cleveland refused to attend. Every president since has come to at least one Gridiron.
Biden veered quickly into the somber, though, highlighting what he sees as a real threat to democracy should Trump — who continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen — return to the White House. The speech had echoes of Biden’s campaign remarks, criticizing Trump as well as too soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We live in an unprecedented moment in democracy,” he said. “An unprecedented moment for history. Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. Putin’s on the march in Europe. My predecessor bows down to him and says to him, ‘do whatever the hell you want.’”
Biden then introduced the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
“We will not bow down. They will not bow down, and I will not bow down,” he said.
Biden, dressed in white-tie attire as is the custom, brought his daughter Ashley.
The dinner has a reputation as a night of bipartisan mirth, and was jam-packed with politicians and who’s-who of Washington, including Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, at least eight other Cabinet members, at least five members of Congress, five governors and at least five ambassadors. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who’s in town for St. Patrick’s Day, also attended.
Also speaking at the dinner were Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican.
Biden closed out the dinner, speaking also about the importance of a free press. Although he may not agree with everything the news media prints, he said, he understands the necessity of journalism and said he was still working to bring home journalists Evan Gershovich and Austin Tice, one held in Russia, the other who disappeared during a reporting trip in Syria.
“Good journalism holds a mirror up to society,” he said. “We need you.”
Biden and Harris were seated at the head table along with other administration officials and the foreign leaders, plus Gridiron president Dan Balz of the Washington Post. Seated also at the table were Balz’s bosses, the Post’s Executive Editor Sally Buzbee and the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos.
The dinner was held at the Grand Hyatt. No photos or TV were allowed.
___
Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Washington, D.C
‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC
![‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC ‘A slap in the face’: Two competing airlines challenge San Antonio’s bid for direct flight to Washington, DC](https://res.cloudinary.com/graham-media-group/image/upload/f_auto/q_auto/c_thumb,w_700/v1/media/anyclip/965v8ZABf_IgKfl1mfSk/1722037640822_1920x1080_thumbnail.jpg?_a=DATAdtfiZAA0)
SAN ANTONIO – The fight for a direct flight from San Antonio to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. has intensified.
Several airlines, including American Airlines, are trying to secure one of five nonstop routes.
San Antonio leaders have pushed to secure a spot for years.
“We’re still having conversations,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican congressman representing Texas’ 21st Congressional District. Roy is part of a group of bipartisan lawmakers making the push.
Leaders, including Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce president Jeff Webster, have been making yearly trips to the nation’s capital to gain support.
“For 25, 30 years, this has been a priority for us,” Webster said. “We’ve worked extremely hard. Not because it’s just a dream, but because we need it.”
Webster said securing this flight to Reagan would not only help with tourism but also business and the military community.
“We are the seventh largest city,” Webster said. “One of the largest insurers of military staff and personnel is USAA, headquartered right here in San Antonio. You better believe we deserve that flight.”
American Airlines isn’t the only airport fighting for a spot.
United Airlines is trying to land a flight to either San Francisco or Los Angeles.
In comments filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation, United Airlines said San Antonio is a smaller metropolitan area than others trying to get a nonstop flight to Washington.
“Yeah, it’s absolutely absurd,” Roy said. “It’s a slap in the face, and it’s even worse to try to diminish the size and the importance of San Antonio as United is done by saying, ‘Oh, it’s just a small city, really.’ Why don’t you come down and explain that to the people of the seventh-largest city?”
JetBlue Airlines, which is also pining for a flight from D.C. to Puerto Rico, said in its comments that “people in San Antonio can drive to Austin for the existing non-stop service to DCA.”
“What Austin is not is Military City, USA,” Webster said. “What Austin is not is the largest Hispanic community in Texas that oftentimes needs to travel for a variety of reasons.”
More San Antonio-to-Washington D.C. related coverage on KSAT:
Copyright 2024 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
Washington, D.C
D.C.’s Friday weather seemed special for being ordinary
![D.C.’s Friday weather seemed special for being ordinary D.C.’s Friday weather seemed special for being ordinary](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/AZSILVEBCMI6XPRCGLJTDWDVGA.jpg&w=1440)
But Friday failed to inflict on the District the harsh meteorological extremism of many days earlier this month — including the four with temperatures above 100 degrees.
However, if averages mean much, they may suggest that days such as Friday cannot readily be relied on to appear here always or often in July.
The average temperature in Washington on Friday’s date now stands at 90 degrees. So it would seem that part of Friday’s allure lay in the five-degree gap between its temperature and the District’s average July 26 temperature.
Possibly Friday’s sense that summer had a benign side, might have been earned physiologically. The many days of extreme and above average temperatures this summer have likely caused acclimatization and a process of adjustment.
But cloudy skies also played an obvious part in moderating Friday’s conditions.
For much of the day, clouds shielded the city from the wilting effects of the summertime sun. It is just a little more than five weeks since the sun was at its absolute annual acme.
Feeling its full late-July strength for protracted periods in the glare of streets without shade, with solar rays reflected from concrete and marble would have made Friday seem far less comfortable than it did.
A major contributor to Friday’s welcome as a well-behaved emissary of summer was the humidity. Or the relative absence thereof.
When summer seems to be at its most intolerable it is ascribed to the joint effect of severe heat and oppressive humidity. Friday was neither too hot nor too humid.
To know the absolute temperature was to know the “feels-like” temperature. Through the day, they were close to identical, meaning that humidity declined to make an 85-degree day seem worse than it was.
This was reflected in the day’s dew points, which were confined to the 50s, a location regarded as comfortable.
Washington, D.C
D.C. Bars and Restaurants Getting Into the Olympic Spirit
![D.C. Bars and Restaurants Getting Into the Olympic Spirit D.C. Bars and Restaurants Getting Into the Olympic Spirit](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ymK3CEFAEwy6RHwLczpMSNZgvn0=/0x301:4200x2500/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25547430/ASTRO071824_0006.jpg)
During the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, we were just emerging from the pandemic and the competition was played in front of a mostly empty audience. Fast forward a few years, and Paris is the backdrop for sport’s biggest stage and millions are expected to descend upon the City of Lights to watch their country hopefully bring home a medal.
For those opting to remain stateside, there are plenty of restaurants in our nation’s capital getting into the Olympic spirit. Think fabulous French bites, themed beverages, and live broadcasts of select events. There are enough participating spots to visit a different one every day of the Games (July 26-August 11). Eater just obtained D.C.’s list of 74 bars that got the okay to stay open around the clock — and serve alcohol from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m. — during the duration of the Olympics, which includes well-known names like Service Bar, Vera, Mission, Capo Deli, and Midlands.
Scroll on to find out where to cheer on Team USA’s athletes while partaking in limited-edition food and drinks.
Read More
If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.
-
World1 week ago
One dead after car crashes into restaurant in Paris
-
Midwest1 week ago
Michigan rep posts video response to Stephen Colbert's joke about his RNC speech: 'Touché'
-
News1 week ago
Video: Young Republicans on Why Their Party Isn’t Reaching Gen Z (And What They Can Do About It)
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Movie Review: A new generation drives into the storm in rousing ‘Twisters’
-
Politics1 week ago
Fox News Politics: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
-
News1 week ago
Video: J.D. Vance Accepts Vice-Presidential Nomination
-
World1 week ago
Trump to take RNC stage for first speech since assassination attempt
-
News1 week ago
RNC speakers want to separate the president from the person to show softer side of Trump