Though the comic headliners of the annual journalism fundraiser have typically bruised the president with their monologues, they have also done so while standing within feet of the commander in chief.

Minhaj, a correspondent on The Daily Show, was freed from that constraint by Trump, who chose to skip the annual dinner for the first time in 36 years, and he took delight in it.

“The leader of our country is not here,” he said. “That’s because he lives in Moscow, it’s a very long flight.”

See a brief video of Minhaj’s best moments above.

This article originally appeared on Time.com