Meanwhile, Trump smiled at some of the jokes but didn't laugh like Clinton had. 'Well actually I did, it's called preparation.' 'I am so flattered that Donald thought I was using a performance enhancer,' Clinton said of the debates. There are often political jabs thrown, but softened with sarcasm.Ĭlinton also aimed for self-deprecating a few times, but seemed to miss the mark, sounding more congratulatory. Politicians have used this as an opportunity to not only prove that they have a sense of humor but that they can also make fun of themselves, turning gaffes into punchlines. In past years, the policy disputes made decent fodder for jokes and it wasn't a stretch for the candidates to put those differences aside. Just hours ago, Trump dismissed Clinton as a 'nasty woman' and Clinton criticized Trump for belittling women who had accused him of sexual misconduct. And the bitter and nasty tenor of the presidential race had promised to make this event either a triumph of both candidates' speech writers who could joke their way through the tension or a grippingly awkward affair.

Their last meeting in Las Vegas may not their most contentious - that would be reserved for the second debate which featured a parade of women who had accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct - but it was pretty close. 'As Ronald Reagan would say, there you go again!' deadpanned Smith before he introduced Clinton, who nearly got the crowd to its feet without uttering a word.īut the outcome wasn't far from what virtually everyone expected. He took his seat and Clinton seemed unfazed smiling widely. He had missed the tone and lost an already frosty room with overtly political jabs. Trump had walked on the wire and quickly lost his balance. He carried on until he reached the customary closing of his speech, a call for togetherness and respect for the sanctity of life that were received with, at most, polite applause. But there was no going back, and Trump knew it.

'Here she is in public pretending not to hate Catholics!'Ĭlinton was no longer laughing, let alone smiling, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and the night's mediator between the two candidates, leaned over, engaging her in conversation as Trump kept going. 'All of the jokes were given to her in advance of the dinner by Donna Brazile,' Trump said, referring to the acting Democratic National Committee chairwoman. Behind him, the face of former ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley was tense and set. 'Booooo!' the agitated crowd called back. 'Hillary is so corrupt she got kicked off the Watergate commission,' Trump declared. Jokes that seemed better placed at his roiling and adoring rallies set the heavily Clinton-leaning crowd on edge. But soon, as things often do for the Republican nominee, his fortunes went south quickly. Normally the fundraising dinner - which this year had raised more than $6 million - is a night in which politics is not so much put aside as deployed in service of a greater good, namely good-natured humor and charity. Smith, who worked diligently to protect the interests of those most in need, even when doing so meant reaching across the aisle.'This is corny stuff,' Trump remarked, bored with the mild mannered nature of the jokes written for him. This too was the message of the “Happy Warrior” Governor Alfred E. Their lessons in compassion and heroism raised the bar for what can be accomplished when we come together as city and a country. Smith Memorial Foundation will dedicate this year’s event to the frontline and essential workers of New York who worked valiantly to keep the city running and the people of New York healthy and safe when the pandemic touched ground in our city. He was the last governor to lead our state through a pandemic. This year, the legacy of Governor Alfred E. The Al Smith Dinner has come to be regarded as one of our culture’s last bastions of non-partisan unity, where the political, business, and cultural leaders come together, regardless of political affiliations, to raise money for the most vulnerable members of society, underserved children. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, leaving political differences at the door for one night of collegiality and good humor before the election. presidential nominees have served as the evening’s celebrated speakers at the Alfred E. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon, U.S. In a tradition extending back to 1960 with then Senator John F.

Al smith dinner emcee