WASHINGTON, D.C.: United States President Joe Biden welcomed a high-wattage collection of singers, authors, artists and humanitarians to the White House on Tuesday to present them with medals — and then stole the show himself with a quip about seeking reelection.

Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mindy Kaling and Gladys Knight were among the 23 people and organizations being honored. When novelist Colson Whitehead's award was announced, Biden noted that the author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys has already won back-to-back Pulitzer Prizes.