CNN’s coverage of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, led by John Berman, beat Fox News and MSNBC in both total viewers and among the key demo of adults age 25-54 on Saturday night.
The network averaged 3 million viewers from 10-11 p.m. ET, when President Obama and host Larry Wilmore both delivered their speeches. During the same time period, Fox News averaged 1.2 million and MSNBC drew 945,000 viewers.
More than 5 million people watched the event between the three cable news networks. President Obama has been praised by critics for his comedic timing, while Wilmore has been criticized for using the N-word during his speech.
The President roasted the Republican Party, and at one point told GOP party leader Reince Priebus, who was in attendance: “It’s good to see you’ve earned a night off. The Republican Party, the nomination process, it’s going great. Keep it up.”
Obama also had fun at the expense of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was in attendance, when he said: “Bernie, you look like a million bucks. To put it in terms you’ll understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27 each.”
The President also ripped into Donald Trump and even dropped the mic when it was over.