President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner later this month, the group announced Wednesday, marking the return of an annual Washington tradition despite the persistence of coronavirus cases.
That exception was Donald Trump, who skipped the event every year it was held during his term in office. The WHCA dinner was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic. It had been unclear whether President Biden would attend this year’s dinner after guests at the Gridiron Club dinner, a similar formal Washington gathering, earlier this month tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Bidens did not attend the Gridiron Club dinner, after which dozens of guests — including two Cabinet members, three members of Congress and a top aide to Vice President Harris — tested positive for the coronavirus. Those included Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.). Valerie Biden Owens, the president’s sister, also tested positive.
Portnoy said after the Gridiron Club dinner that the WHCA dinner would still be held as planned but that guests would be required to show a same-day negative coronavirus test. Comedian and talk-show host Trevor Noah is the host of this year’s event, which usually attracts 2,500 journalists, Washington figures and often some Hollywood stars.
Paul Farhi, Roxanne Roberts and Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report.
