Stephen Colbert’s 2006 White House Correspondent’s Dinner Part 1

Presidency News - Sunday, 14 March 201015 Comments

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On April 29, 2006, American comedian Stephen Colbert appeared as the featured entertainer at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which was held in Washington, DC, at the Hilton Washington hotel. Colbert’s performance consisted of a 16-minute podium speech and a 7-minute video presentation, which were broadcast live across the United States on cable television networks C-SPAN and MSNBC. Standing a few feet from US President George W. Bush—in front of an audience of celebrities, politicians, and members of the White House Press Corps—Colbert delivered a controversial, searing routine targeting the president and the media. Cable television personality Colbert spoke in the persona of the character he plays on Comedy Central’s popular The Colbert Report, a parody of a conservative pundit in the fashion of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Colbert’s performance quickly became an Internet and media sensation. Subsequent coverage has seen commentators debate the stand-alone humor content of Colbert’s performance, the political nature of his remarks, and whether there was an intentional cover-up by the media in the reporting on the routine. Time’s James Poniewozik noted that “days after Stephen Colbert performed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, this has become the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006—like whether you drive a hybrid or use the term ‘freedom fries’.” Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich called Colbert’s …

15 Comments »

RobT89 said:

Chick at 5:29 loll

- 14 March 2010 at 8:40 am

JFOX2109 said:

Colbert is amazing. To satirize the president in front of his face was bold, and incredible.

- 14 March 2010 at 9:13 am

Gasparro18 said:

Damn, If I were president I’d be embarrsed as hell and be feeling pretty bad if Stephen Colbert stood up there and told jokes about me like Bush or how anyone else would.

- 14 March 2010 at 9:58 am

embraceyourcomputer said:

Were not brainiacs on the nerd patrol

- 14 March 2010 at 10:41 am

tombom52 said:

Colbert’s got balls of fucking steel.

- 14 March 2010 at 11:15 am

Thegoat152 said:

This bit should have killed. I bet the tension in the room was was thick enough to give you a headache. I hope it did.

- 14 March 2010 at 11:41 am

toweryman said:

haha agreed