Earlier on Saturday, in anticipation (or dread) of the return after a three-year hiatus of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, our sister website Townhall.com published a preview.

Some things of course would be surprises tonight, like at any live event. But we knew (or suspected) a couple of things in advance: Dr. Anthony Fauci would not be attending. President Joe Biden would be making remarks. And there would be a lot of unfunny jokes thrown out solely for the merriment of those mostly left-wing media in attendance at the so-called Nerd Prom.

The 2022 Dinner did not disappoint on those counts. Well, mostly.

There was a bunch of tedious “business” before the speeches everyone showed up to see — Joe Biden and the evening’s host, “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah. You’ll see why I’m bringing it up in a minute.

On a night which the press considers a paen to itself and its unparalleled virtues, they naturally had to hand out awards. Think of it as their own version of the Academy Awards. Anyway, one of those awards was this:

WHCA Announces 2022 Journalism Awards | White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) https://t.co/fRztXgqsaC

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESIDENTIAL COVERAGE UNDER DEADLINE PRESSURE – BROADCAST
Jonathan Karl, ABC News, Jan. 6 coverage#WHCD #NerdProm

— ScanMyPhotos.com® Est. 1990 💛💙🇺🇦 (@ScanmyphotosC) April 29, 2022

And Jonathan Karl felt the need to tell everyone in the room and looking on at home through C-SPAN what January 6th was about in his 15-second acceptance speech.

Jonathan Karl, ABC News, in 15 seconds gives a perfect example of why “journalism” isn’t journalism anymore, but activism. This was his speech for accepting an award for Jan 6 reporting 🤣 🤡 pic.twitter.com/i6oPhTjDkP

— Joe Has Dementia (@RokerGlasses) May 1, 2022

Truly pathetic.

Then there was Joe Biden, who gave about 15 minutes of remarks. He opened with thanks to “the 42 percent of you who applauded,” in reference to his dismal job approval rating. That was sort of funny. But right away, he plunged into a nasty joke aimed at President Donald Trump. Biden said that the country had suffered from “a horrible plague, followed by two years of COVID.”

But the crowd showed they weren’t afraid to boo truly dead-on-arrival gags, like him insisting that if Trump had come to this year’s event, “that would have been a real coup.”

Biden had another easy joke for the crowd, saying the Democrats were anticipating having to deal with “gridlock” after the midterms…but “we can work it out during the next six years I’m in office.”

In another bomb of a joke, he recalled Ronald Reagan’s famous quote, “(Mr. Gorbachev), Tear down this wall!” He explained that, for today’s Republicans, it’s “‘Tear down this Mouse’s House,’ and they are coming for Cinderella’s Castle.'”

Near the close of his remarks, Biden did one of his tells that he doesn’t really mean what he’s about to say (and you shouldn’t trust whatever it is). He said, “I give you my word as a Biden” that he’s optimistic about America’s future.

You can find some of Biden’s cringetastic jokes here:

Joe Biden goes full cringe at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner pic.twitter.com/QvQFkaniA6

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 1, 2022

While figuratively handing over the mic to Noah, he quipped that a comedian was going to make jokes at the expense of the leader of the country — and unlike in Russia, he wouldn’t be heading to jail. Har har.

Trevor Noah got in a great joke near the beginning of his remarks. Calling it Washington’s next “super spreader event,” he demanded of the audience, “Did you learn nothing from the Gridiron Dinner?” He also jokingly pointed out that even Fauci wouldn’t risk it.

Quickly, though, he turned nasty against foes of the Democrat leadership like Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). Noah urged the audience to “give it up” for her — because she has managed to be “openly bisexual, but a closeted Republican.” He also had to make a tired “ramp” joke when roasting Trump in absentia, but the joke was addressed to someone who was in the room — Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. I think I counted four or five jokes aimed at him, more than at any other journalist or politician. It tells you something.

Noah also found time to repeat the lie that the Biden Administration only plans to raise taxes on billionaires. That’s nothing to joke about.

One of the best delivered jokes from Trevor Noah was at the expense of Joe Biden, though, which you have to give credit for. He said he finally figured out why he had been chosen as host of this year’s WHCA Dinner.

Biden has the best ratings when he stands next to a bi-racial Black guy.

Two quick asides: Noah tried (by my count) twice to make savage jabs at the people in the room. “Golden Globes” host Ricky Gervais would have been proud.

He intimated that there were so many people seated in the room, they’d managed to get “everyone who’s been to Jeffrey Epstein’s island.” Of course, it didn’t go over well in the room, but was hilarious. Ricky Gervais would be proud.

The second swipe was straight at the Biden Administration, and Trevor Noah snuck it in as he was slipping away from the microphone.

Trevor Noah at the White House Correspondents Dinner: “Please be careful leaving tonight, we all know this administration doesn’t handle evacuations well.”

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) May 1, 2022

But then again, many of the jokes during the nearly 25-minute speech were like this one (as I said, notice the target):

Trevor Noah on FL Gov. DeSantis eyeing a 2024 presidential run: ‘Ron DeSantis is one step ahead [of Trump]. First you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes’ #WHCD pic.twitter.com/HZ6iyXybmG

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 1, 2022