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Clinton and Trump Trade Punch Lines Instead of Punches at the Al Smith Dinner Donald Trump Heckled by New York Elite at Charity Dinner
(35 minutes later)
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump appeared together Thursday night for a ritzy gathering, delivering remarks at the white-tie Al Smith charity dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. Donald J. Trump began this quadrennial exercise in campaign humility and self-deprecation on Thursday by comparing himself to the son of God — just another “carpenter working for his father” in his youth.
In most presidential campaigns, the dinner, which benefits Roman Catholic charities, functions as a welcome respite, a forum for levity and self-deprecation in the throes of a heated election. By the end, facing cascading and uncomfortable jeers from a crowd full of white ties and gowns, he had called Hillary Clinton Catholic-hating, “so corrupt” and potentially jail-bound in a prospective Trump administration.
This year, it just so happens that two New Yorkers can also be found at the top of the ballot. “I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I,” Mr. Trump said sheepishly from the dais, turning to his opponent amid the heckling.
Here are the highlights: It seemed clear to everyone else. Mr. Trump was being booed at a charity dinner.
• And so they came, in tails and fuchsia. The introduction of Melania Trump (sans pussybow), then Mrs. Clinton (to cheers and applause), then Mr. Trump (to slightly less effusive cheers, and scattered boos). So it went at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in Manhattan, a presidential campaign ritual of levity and feigned warmth — upended, like so much else in this election season, by the gale-force bid of Mr. Trump.
But the silver lining, at least to start: Mr. Trump was greeted far more warmly than Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was booed like Santa at an Eagles game. Breaking with decades of tradition at the gathering once he took the microphone, Mr. Trump set off on a blistering, grievance-filled performance that translated poorly to the staid setting, stunning many of the well-heeled guests who had filed into the Waldorf Astoria hotel for an uncommon spectacle: an attempted détente in a campaign so caustic that the candidates, less than 24 hours earlier, declined to shake hands on a debate stage.
• Just like in the last two debates, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump did not shake hands. Instead they beamed and ignored one another, until the evening’s M.C., Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York, performed a veritable act of God — inserting himself between the two rivals, with no physical altercation. Relations did not much improve.
• Alfred E. Smith IV, the chairman of the dinner, seemed to offer a preview of what may await Mr. Trump as he tries to return to New York society life should he not win the White House in November. Mr. Trump’s set began typically enough. He joked about the size of his hands and Mrs. Clinton’s comparatively small crowds. He even very nearly poked fun at himself — insofar as a zinger about his wife, and her partly plagiarized Republican convention speech, qualifies — when discussing the “biased” news media.
“Before the dinner started, Trump went to Hillary and asked how are you,” Mr. Smith said, setting up the punch line. “She said, ‘I’m fine — now get out of the ladies’ dressing room.’” “You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech, and everyone loves it,” Mr. Trump said. “My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech and people get on her case.”
• After the king crab and tournedos had been served, Mr. Smith returned to his favorite comedic villains — The Trump team. Some sharper jokes about Mrs. Clinton seemed to edge just to the line.
On former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who is now a senior adviser on Mr. Trump’s campaign: “We have the lights just right to make sure you’ll be in Donald Trump’s shadow all night.” “Just before taking the dais, Hillary accidentally bumped into me. And she very civilly said, ‘Pardon me,’” Mr. Trump said, as murmurs filled the room. “I very politely replied, ‘Let me talk to you about that after I get into office.’”
And on Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who is running Mr. Trump’s transition effort: “Governor Christie was supposed to be here but he got stuck in bridge traffic.” Mrs. Clinton, seeming to get the joke before some others, bellowed before the punch line.
Finally, he turned the podium over to Mr. Trump. “No matter how the coin toss ended, our next speaker was going to say it was rigged,” Mr. Smith said, to laughter. “Donald, the microphone is yours and it’s working.” But quickly, his remarks took a more menacing turn.
• Mr. Trump seemed to miss the self-deprecation memo, at one point ending a sort-of-joke, comparing his Fifth Avenue tower to that of Cardinal Dolan’s — “I built mine with my own beautifully formed hands, whereas his was built with the hands of God” — by turning to the archbishop and asking, almost in earnest, “Nobody can compete with God, is that correct?” Mr. Trump said Mrs. Clinton was merely “pretending not to hate Catholics,” an allusion to hacked correspondences from Clinton aides that appeared to include messages criticizing Roman Catholic conservatism.
But he hit his stride when he turned his attention to his Democratic rival. He joked that this intimate dinner with friends was, “as Hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season.” And teased that Thursday evening was, “The first time Hillary is sitting down and speaking to major corporate leaders and not getting paid for it.” He wondered aloud how someone like Mrs. Clinton — “so corrupt,” he said — could sell herself to the American people. “What’s her pitch?” he asked. “The economy is busted, the government’s corrupt, Washington is failing. Vote for me.”
• At least one of Mr. Trump’s usual rivals got a reprieve — Rosie O’Donnell — if only by comparison. He fake-griped that “all the jokes were given to her in advance.”
“Last night I called Hillary ‘a nasty woman’” Mr. Trump said, reprising a line from Wednesday’s debate that many found sexist and offensive. “But this stuff is all relative. After listening to Hillary rattle on and on and on, I don’t think so badly of Rosie O’Donnell anymore. In fact, I’m actually starting to like Rosie a lot.” He appeared to disparage the Clinton Foundation’s oft-criticized efforts in Haiti.
• After delivering a joke about his wife’s speech at the Republican National Convention that lifted lines from Michelle Obama’s 2008 convention speech that was widely praised — “My wife Melania gives the exact same speech and people get on her case, and I don’t get it!” — Mr. Trump descended into a series of dark jokes. “As some of you have noticed, Hillary isn’t laughing as much as the rest of us,” he said.
“Here she is in public, pretending not to hate Catholics,” Mr. Trump said, one of several quips that, near the end of his speech, led to him getting booed and jeered. By then, he had decisively lost the room.
• Mrs. Clinton began with the traditional self-deprecating joke: “I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here.” The audience, she added, should be grateful: “Usually I charge a lot for speeches like this.” As for Mrs. Clinton, she began with some easy self-deprecation.
• Mrs. Clinton later turned cutting, with a biting edge of hard truth. “I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here,” she said, adding, “Usually, I charge a lot for speeches like this.”
“It’s amazing I’m up here after Donald,” she said. “I didn’t think he’d be O.K. with a peaceful transition of power.” But she quickly turned to more cutting satire, joking that Mr. Trump was “translating from the original Russian” on his teleprompters and wondering just how President Obama might be able to visit the White House for a reunion of former presidents under a Trump administration.
Then, she spoke of the Statue of Liberty, recounting how for most Americans, the green lady of freedom represents a shining beacon and welcome for immigrants arriving on the nation’s shores. But Mr. Trump, she added with a glint of steel, “sees the Statue of Liberty and sees a four.” “How is Barack going to get past the Muslim ban?” she asked.
“Maybe a five if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair,” she continued, before making an explicit, if subtle, pitch for what she earlier called breaking “the stained glass ceiling.” She also spoke of the Statue of Liberty, recounting how for most Americans, the green lady of freedom represents a shining beacon of hope and a welcome symbol for immigrants arriving on the nation shores. But Mr. Trump, she added with a glint of steel, “looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a 4” — a not-so-veiled reference to his comments rating the physical appearance of women.
“You know what would be a good number for a woman — 45,” she concluded triumphantly. “Maybe a 5 if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair,” she continued, before making an explicit, if subtle, pitch for becoming the nation’s first female president.
• The person who seemed to enjoy the evening least was Mr. Trump. He sat with his arms tightly folded as Mrs. Clinton spoke, a similarly taut smile across his face. But when Mrs. Clinton returned to one of his favorite themes — her health — he seemed momentarily buoyed. “You know, come to think, know what would be a good number for a woman? 45,” she concluded triumphantly.
Mr. Trump, the Democratic nominee said, had chivalrously sent a car to ferry her to the dinner. “Actually, it was a hearse,” Mrs. Clinton said. At the dinner before the remarks, the pair could be seen chatting, at least briefly, seated two seats apart, with only Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York, between them. (Perhaps only a man of God could, for a night, soothe a campaign that has included an F.B.I. inquiry, overnight Twitter binges, multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and an international feud between the Republican nominee and Pope Francis).
And finally, Mr. Trump laughed with real joy. Before the candidates spoke, Alfred E. Smith IV, the chairman of the dinner, which benefits Catholic charities, seemed to offer a preview of what may await Mr. Trump as he tries to return to New York society life should he not win the White House in November.
“Before the dinner started, Trump went to Hillary and asked, ‘How are you?’” Mr. Smith said, waiting a beat. “She said, ‘I’m fine — now get out of the ladies’ dressing room.’”
Even under the best of circumstances, Mr. Trump is not known for an eagerness to laugh at himself. A veritable roasting at Washington’s annual “nerd prom,” the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner, in 2011 may have hastened — or even catalyzed — his bid for the Oval Office. And now a flagging presidential campaign — most polls place him several percentage points behind Mrs. Clinton nationally — has done little to help.
Then there was the guest list. In addition to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump was surrounded on the dais by assorted adversaries from his political and professional life. Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor who has vocally opposed Mr. Trump’s bid, was perched in the first row, just in front of the candidates. And Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, whose office has opened an investigation into Mr. Trump’s foundation, was positioned a safe distance away in the back.
At least one Trump ally, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, did attend what is, during even typical election seasons, a quintessentially New York event, packed with local political leaders and power brokers.
This year, it so happens that two New Yorkers can also be found at the top of the ballot.
One seemed to have more fun on Thursday than the other. Mr. Trump sat with his arms tightly folded as Mrs. Clinton spoke, a similarly taut smile across his face. But when Mrs. Clinton returned to one his favorite themes — her health — he seemed momentarily buoyed.
Mr. Trump, Mrs. Clinton said, had chivalrously sent a car to ferry her to the dinner. “Actually, it was a hearse,” she said.
Finally, Mr. Trump laughed with real joy.