VIDEO: Trump's White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech Bombs

President Donald Trump's speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday night bombed, with even his jokes about bad jokes falling flat. He was widely ridiculed for the comedy routine afterward. While members of the media mocked the leader’s dismal performance on live TV and across the internet, Trump’s speech unwittingly underscored the dinner's theme: America’s robust First Amendment protections.

In a rambling hour-long speech, Trump insulted journalists by name, repurposed old nicknames for political opponents, and made jokes that were not funny. Some of Trump’s remarks were “vicious,” as press secretary Karoline Leavitt promised, but the speech was mostly boring. Trump claimed to be singlehandedly keeping the news business afloat, commenting, “When I’m gone, you’re all going to be broke.”

The dinner was a rescheduled event, held at the Waldorf Astoria, a building Trump once operated as his namesake DC hotel. Trump did praise the Secret Service and denounce political violence, stating, “In this country, we believe in freedom of speech.” He also joked about dinnergoers wearing bulletproof vests under their fancy outfits. Trump’s remarks showed how he understands the power of the press and that he gets angry when he can’t control it. He singled out several CNN journalists by name. CNN CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement, “We stand by our journalists and the integrity and fairmindedness with which the CNN team reports the news.”

Trump also gave shoutouts to media executives he views as allies, namely Larry and David Ellison, who took control of Paramount last year and are now trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company. Paramount suffered a major setback earlier on Friday when it agreed to accept a months-long delay to the merger while legal challenges are resolved. One of the most intriguing parts of the evening involved the correspondents’ association’s annual journalism awards presentation. Trump sat through multiple prizes, including one for “courage and accountability” in reporting that went to a team of Wall Street Journal reporters for their investigative work on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump’s name.