NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Former President laced into Vice President and other Democrats on Thursday in a pointed and at times bitter speech as he headlined the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York.
Trump, in remarks that often felt more like a rally performance than a comedy routine, repeatedly criticized Harris over her decision to skip in a as she .
She recorded a video that was played onscreen, but Trump called the decision "deeply disrespectful."
鈥溾�淚f you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis and she would have been here, guaranteed,鈥� said Trump, urging Catholics to vote for him in response.
鈥淵ou better remember that I鈥檓 here and she鈥檚 not," he said.
The white-tie dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally offered candidates from both parties the chance to trade lighthearted barbs, poke fun at themselves, and show that they can get along 鈥� or at least pretend to 鈥� for one night in the election's final stretch.
It's often the last time the two nominees share a stage before Election Day.
Trump delivered a number of one-liners that drew laughs. But he also questioned the mental fitness of Harris and President Joe Biden, commented on second gentleman Doug Emhoff's extramarital affair during his previous marriage, and made a joke about transgender women that echoed his frequent mocking of trans athletes on the campaign trail.
He said at one point that he would offer a couple of self-deprecating jokes before abandoning the effort. 鈥淣ope. I鈥檝e got nothing,鈥� he said to laughs.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me," he said, referencing his survival of two assassination attempts this year.
Of Biden, he said, 鈥淚f the Democrats really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening, they would have sent Joe Biden."
Later, he said the current occupant of the White House 鈥渃an barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child. This is a person that has nothing going, no intelligence whatsoever. But enough about Kamala Harris.鈥�
In the video she recorded for the occasion, Harris appeared alongside comedian and actress Molly Shannon, who reprised her long-running 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� character Mary Katherine Gallagher, an awkward Catholic schoolgirl. She also poked fun at Trump for comments he made in Michigan, saying that mocking Catholics in the video would be 鈥渓ike criticizing Detroit in Detroit.鈥�
Harris鈥� campaign that, with less than three weeks before Election Day, they wanted her to spend as much time as possible campaigning in that will decide the election, rather than detouring to heavily Democratic New York. Her team has told organizers that she would be willing to attend the dinner as president if she wins.
Melania Trump attended in a rare appearance
Trump was joined at the dinner by his wife, Melania, who has been an infrequent presence on the campaign trail.
The dais included a mix of Trump allies and foes, with various entanglements. They included New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a successful . Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who endorsed Trump after dropping his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, attended with his wife, Cheryl Hines.
Also in attendance were New York鈥檚 embattled Mayor Eric Adams and other top city officials, as well as business leaders and sports and media personalities. Adams was charged last month with accepting illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips from Turkish officials and businesspeople 鈥� a case that was mentioned repeatedly, including by Trump.
Trump has claimed, without evidence, that Adams was targeted by authorities because he criticized Biden鈥檚 migrant policies.
鈥淢ayor Adams: Good luck with everything,鈥� Trump said, adding that what Adams faces is 鈥減eanuts鈥� compared to his own legal woes and predicting that he will win reelection nonetheless.
He also went after former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was repeatedly booed by the crowd.
鈥淭o be honest, he was a terrible mayor," Trump said before offering a profanity at a religion-themed event. "I don鈥檛 give a s鈥�- if this is comedy or not.鈥�
Jim Gaffigan, who plays Tim Walz on 鈥楽NL,鈥� emceed
The dinner was emceed by comedian Jim Gaffigan, who plays Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz on 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥�
Gaffigan has a history of criticizing Trump. In 2020, , then named Twitter, that, 鈥淲e need to wake up. We need to call trump the con man and thief that he is.鈥�
Gaffigan largely kept his focus on others Thursday, but offered several pointed quips, including when he referenced allegations that the Trump Organization in the 1970s discriminated against Black renters.
鈥淚f Vice President Harris wins this election, not only would she be the first female president, a Black woman would occupy the White House, a former Trump residence,鈥� Gaffigan said. 鈥淥bviously you wouldn't be renting to her. I mean, that would never happen anyway. Maybe if Doug did the signing.鈥�
Gaffigan also mocked Harris for not coming to the dinner and joked about the Democrats replacing Biden with the vice president.
鈥淭he media has begun discussing the phenomena of secret Trump voters. I don鈥檛 know if you鈥檝e heard about this 鈥� people who publicly say they would never vote for Trump, but then when they go in the voting booth, they do. It鈥檚 a small group. They鈥檙e called the Biden family,鈥� he told the crowd.
Reprising his role
Trump's tone echoed his appearance in 2016, when he was joined by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and delivered a particularly nasty speech in which he called her 鈥渃orrupt."
鈥淗illary believes that it鈥檚 vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private,鈥� he said to jeers. 鈥淔or example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.鈥�
Mary Callahan Erdoes, vice chair of the foundation, alluded to that when she introduced Trump, suggesting she hoped for something less caustic.
鈥淵ou never disappoint. Your wit is absolutely fabulous. And all of us together are going to hope for the best,鈥� she said to laughs.
Trump, too, referenced the performance Thursday, saying that, in 2016, he "went overboard. That was like terrible. And I knew I was in trouble midway through."
That didn't stop him, however, from similar attacks, and repeatedly straying off-script.
The Harris campaign responded to Trump's speech with a statement saying it would remind 鈥淎mericans how unstable he鈥檚 become.鈥�
鈥淗e may refuse to release his medical records, but every day he makes it clear to the American people that he is not up to the job,鈥� said spokesperson Ammar Moussa.
Trump's sense of humor is often cited by his supporters as key to his appeal. While he infamously glowered through former President Barack Obama鈥檚 jokes at his expense during the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, he also sometimes pokes fun at himself.
At several rallies this year, he has remarked on his hair after catching a glimpse of himself onscreen.
鈥淲hat the hell can you do? There鈥檚 nothing I can do about it. We鈥檙e stuck with it," he joked at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, last month.
Both and , who is Catholic, spoke at a virtual version of the fundraiser in 2020, .
The is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat who was the first Catholic to receive a major-party nomination for president when he unsuccessfully ran for the White House in 1928.
The event has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.
Jill Colvin, The Associated Press
