Donald Trump had the spotlight all to himself at the Al Smith Dinner on Thursday, as he made made jokes about immigrants, transgender Americans and his political rivals at the event, which has been an election-year tradition.
Standing at the lectern, with Chuck Schumer next to him, Trump said that the Senate majority leader was “looking very glum. But look on the bright side Chuck. Considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president.”
Another one: “I used to think that Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods. But then I met Tim Walz.”
Mispronouncing Harris’ first name again, Trump blasted Harris for not attending the dinner, where candidates of both major parties have, in the past, taken a break from the campaign trail for a night of levity.
Harris, who campaigned in Wisconsin today, instead sent a video greeting and skit with Molly Shannon reprising her Mary Katherine Gallagher character from Saturday Night Live.
The event is a benefit for the Alfred E. Smith Foundation, named for the first Catholic nominee on a major party presidential ticket, Al Smith in 1928. The event draws a heavy turnout of Catholic political and media figures, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan as chair of the evenings proceedings.
Trump said of Harris, “My opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful for the event and in particular for our great Catholic community. Very disrespectful.”
When both candidates have attended, their comedy bits had tended to be heavy on self-deprecation. But in 2016, when Trump attended along with the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, he ended his remarks with a series of campaign-style attacks. Some in the audience booed him from breaking with the traditional tone of the evening.
This year, Trump quipped, “Tradition holds that I am supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes. Nope. I’ve got nothing.”
The audience laughed and cheered.
Then he quipped, referring to the assassination attempts against him, “I guess I don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time.”
Trump also made a joke about the emcee of the evening, Jim Gaffigan, who is playing Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live this season. “That will be a very short gig, I hope Jim. But it was fun while it lasted.”
Trump also made a joke about his campaign’s focus on the border and migrants. “Mayor [Eric] Adams told me earlier that I needed to make this one very quick, especially. The city has reserved this room for a large group of illegal aliens coming in from Texas.”
Trump also quipped about Adams’ indictment, relating it to his own criminal charges. “Good luck with everything. They went after noon…Nine and a half months ago, I said, ‘He just said something bad about the administration. He’s going to be indicted any moment. And guess what happened?”
“But you are going to win. I think so,” Trump added.
Some of Trump’s jokes were met with awkward silence, as he made quips about “Barack Hussein Obama” and then went into complaints about “fake news.”
During his remarks, Gaffigan got some sharp barbs in about Trump, who was with former First Lady Melania Trump, making a rare public appearance with him. “During the first and only debate, President Trump talked about migrants taking cats and eating them. If you are keeping track at home, this is the second time grabbing a kitty has been part of a campaign issue.” That joke drew some groans. “I was going to leave that out,” Gaffigan admitted.
