Obama mocks scandals, Republicans at White House Correspondents Dinner

At a time when the Obama administration is reeling from a pair of high-profile scandals, the president paused Saturday night to thoroughly mock them before a crowd of dressed-up journalists and celebrities at the White House Correspondents Dinner. 

Few topics were off limits as President Obama roasted his own administration officials, while reserving a stinging string of punch-lines for targets ranging from Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich to Donald Trump. 

His closing line poked fun at the Secret Service, which for weeks has been embroiled in a prostitution scandal after agents were found carousing with women in Colombia ahead of the president's visit. 

"I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret Service home in time for their new curfew," Obama said, referencing the agency's new rules of conduct. 

The president also ripped the General Services Administration, over the agency's now infamous 2010 conference in Las Vegas. 

"I mean, look at this party.  We've got men in tuxes, women in gowns, fine wine, first-class entertainment," he said. "I was just relieved to learn this was not a GSA conference." 

The dinner was far from a campaign-free zone. The president pointed out his similarities with the presumed Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. 

"We both think of our wives as our better halves, and the American people agree to an insulting extent," the president said. 

"We both have degrees from Harvard. I have one, he has two. What a snob." 

The crack drew a thumbs up from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who was in the audience. Santorum dropped out of the presidential primary campaign earlier this month. He had called Obama a snob for encouraging young Americans to attend college. 

Obama also teased Newt Gingrich, who is expected to formally drop out of the Republican presidential race this coming week. 

"Now, I know at this point many of you are expecting me to go after my likely opponent, Newt Gingrich," Obama said. "Newt, there's still time, man." 

The president turned to make fun of recent stories about his childhood experience eating dog -- which he wrote about in his memoir. 

"Even Sarah Palin is getting back into the game, guest hosting on The Today Show -- which reminds me of an old saying: What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?  A pit bull is delicious," Obama said, adding: "A little soy sauce." 

He later joked: "My stepfather always told me, it's a boy-eat-dog world out there." 

Even the entrance to his speech was part of his schtick. The president walked off stage just before he took the podium with an alleged "hot mic," making fun of getting caught last month on an open microphone with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev