Obama ends his final correspondents' dinner with 'Obama out'

Washington, May 1: US President Barack Obama ended his final White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night with what was the 'coolest' exit by a president in history when he said, "Obama out", dropped the mic and walked away from the podium.

Hundreds of well-known journalists, politicians, and celebrities attended the dinner, which was held at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Vice President Joe Biden, in attendance for the first time in eight years, joined Secretary of State John Kerry and other government officials, NBC News reported.

Obama began his speech apologising for being late, saying he was operation on "CPT" - an acronym for "coloured people's time" that was controversially used by New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio during a skit last month with Democrat front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Obama said CPT stood for "jokes that white people should not make".

The president also bragged about his recent popularity in the polls.

"My approval ratings keep going up. The last time I was this high I was trying to decide on my major."

Republican front-runner Donald Trump, a regular in recent years, did not attend the dinner,however Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders was.

"Bernie, you look like a million bucks," Obama told him. "Or to put it in terms you understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27 each."

Obama wondered aloud why Trump did not attend. "Is he at home eating a Trump steak? Tweeting out insults to Angela Merkel? What is he doing?"

Obama ended his speech with the two final words: "Obama out".

IANS