By Megan Lebowitz, Peter Alexander and Dennis Romero - NBC News
President Joe Biden has vowed to continue working to secure the release of Americans he believes are wrongfully detained abroad, he said in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night.
Biden mentioned the difficult situation that Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich is going through, arrested in Russia on March 29 and accused of espionage.
President Joe Biden poses in aviator sunglasses during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on April 29, 2023 in Washington.Bloomberg via Getty Images
"The free press is a pillar, perhaps the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy," defended the president, countering the perspective of the Administration of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Gershkovich is one of the many Americans held abroad under unfounded pretexts, according to the Government, turned into "political pawns" and "human beings as bargaining chips" in the words of Biden.
Other US citizens in a similar situation include Paul Whelan, a former Marine jailed in Russia for espionage, a charge he denies, and Austin Tice, another former US Marine held captive since 2012 in Syria, where he went to work as a freelance journalist.
“We are keeping the faith for Austin,” the president said.
"We are not going to give up."
President Joe Biden honors American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since late March, during the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 29, 2023 in Washington.Bloomberg via Getty Images
Biden paid tribute at dinner to a special guest, Brittney Griner, the professional basketball player who was imprisoned in Russia for most of 2022 and who was released in December as part of a prisoner swap with the United States.
In the case of Gershkovich, both the newspaper for which he works and the Biden Administration have denied that he was spying on behalf of the United States.
On April 10, the State Department designated him as a wrongful detainee.
"Tonight our message is this: journalism is not a crime," Biden stressed.
A senior White House official said the president has an "unwavering commitment to bringing home wrongfully detained journalists and other Americans."
Basketball player Brittney Griner is applauded by attendees at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 29, 2023 in Washington.Bloomberg via Getty Images
This year's guest comedian was Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent for The Daily Show, who discussed his father's work as a journalist and co-founder of the National Black Network radio association.
Last year was the first time a sitting president had attended the show since Barack Obama in 2016. At the 2022 dinner, Biden spoke for just under 15 minutes, making jokes about himself and the media.
"I'm very excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than me," he joked as he began his speech last year, praising the importance of a free press in his remarks last year.
“What is clear – and I mean this from the bottom of my heart – is that you, the free press, matter more than ever in the last century,” Biden said last year.
President Joe Biden greets comedian Roy Wood, host of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner held on April 29, 2023 in Washington.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
The history of the famous dinner dates back to 1914, when the White House Correspondents Association was created.
In 1921 he held his first dinner, starting this annual tradition.
But it wasn't until 1924 that then-President Calvin Coolidge began attending.
They are usually hosted by well-known American comedians, who joke about the government and the media.
One of the most memorable White House correspondents' dinners took place during Biden's vice presidency in 2011, when Obama and comedian Seth Meyers lashed out at Trump, who was in the audience.
“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican [candidate],” Meyers said, looking at the real estate mogul, who did not seem to take the comment very well, “which is surprising, since I assumed fact that was presented as a joke”.
Trump did not attend any of the White House Correspondents' Dinners hosted during his tenure.