Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was exactly what you’d expect it to be. Namely, it was a partisan cluster filled with journalists cosplaying as celebrities that seal-clapped for Joe Biden even as he mocked them for their slavish devotion. Well, it was that and also yet another example of the president’s ever-diminishing mental capacity.

The pathetic nature of that scene wasn’t lost on everyone, though. Scott Jennings, who offered his critique on CNN of all places, pointed out how pathetic it was for the press to clap along to a president making fun of the fact that they are completely in the tank.

.@ScottJenningsKY on Biden taunting reporters tonight by joking that he never takes their questio ns: "He wasn't laughing with you, he was laughing at you. I mean, the reality is, I think he's mocking the press. The guy does not take questions, & he's up there joking about it. pic.twitter.com/Bq71ynzzU6

— Kevin Tober (@KevinTober94) April 30, 2023

The line that will stick with me is “In a lot of ways this dinner sums up my first two years. I’ll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away.” For the journalists in the room, he wasn’t laughing with you, he was laughing at you. The reality is, I think he’s mocking the press. The guy does not take questions, and he’s up there joking about it. And I’m just, and they’re clapping and they’re laughing about it.

Jennings’ commentary was made even more impactful by the fact that the rest of the panelists were drooling over Biden’s speech. They should feel as betrayed and belittled as those who watched the president mock them in person.

But I digress, Jennings hit the nail on the head. Biden was not laughing with all those journalists as they cackled at his badly read jokes (sometimes having to fight the teleprompter to get them out). He was laughing at them. The president sees the press as a subservient class of pawns that exist simply to prop him up amidst his failures.

That would be bad enough, but what makes it so much worse is that members of the press happily play their part. They pre-submit questions to the White House, they ignore the president’s senility, and they cover up for rampant corruption within the administration. It doesn’t matter that Biden openly mocks the fact that he doesn’t answer their questions. They’ll still be in his back pocket no matter what. At some point, you’d think a sense of personal shame would kick in, but I guess not.

This isn’t a new thing either. Anyone who follows politics remembers how Biden treated the press in the aftermath of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. If that wasn’t enough to cause the press some introspection, then nothing ever will.

Biden at WH Press Party: A free press is the pillar of a free society.

Biden when the press wants to discuss Afghanistan: pic.twitter.com/jG7kwCZDho

— Vanessa (@Nessakins_) April 30, 2023

Biden spits in the face of the press over and over, and the only reaction those who cover him can muster is wiping it off and apologizing for being in the way. It’s a sad state of affairs because the nation actually could benefit from a journalistic establishment that valued its role in holding power to account. We don’t have that, though. Instead, we have a press establishment that is simply an extension of the Democratic Party.

So Jennings is right, but unfortunately, he might as well be shouting into a void.