On Thursday evening, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton met to debate domestic and foreign policy on live TV one last time before the November 8 election. Sort of.
For over 70 years the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner has hosted entertainment, journalism, and political luminaries at the annual charity event. Since 1960, it has been a regular stop for presidential candidates in the final leg of the campaign going into the general election. The candidates are typically the guests of honor on election years and abandon the heated exchanges of debates to mildly roast each other with lighthearted banter as part of the event.
Clinton and Trump were the guests of honor this year. And the roasts definitely were not as lighthearted as usual.
“[T]his year’s dinner, reflecting the bitter nature of the contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, was hardly jovial, with both candidates exchanging fierce jabs Thursday night that at times appeared to devolve into personal attacks,” Jonathan Lemire wrote for the Washington Post .
According to Lemire, some of Trump’s “jokes” were so harsh that the crowd began jeering him during his delivery, a highly unusual occurrence at the event.
No matter who wins on Nov. 8, “they inherit a divided country,” says @Enrique_Acevedo . Our #Election2016 roundtable: https://t.co/CFG185xPLc
— Here & Now (@hereandnow) October 21, 2016
An example of one of Trump’s more venomous lines during his roast of Clinton concerned the alleged mishandling of funds by the Clinton Foundation in Haiti following natural disasters that devastated the country.
“Everyone knows, of course, Hillary’s belief that, ‘It takes a village,’ which only makes sense, after all, in places like Haiti, where she’s taken a number of them,” Trump quipped.
Trump raised the issue of Haiti during the previous presidential debate as well.
A June 13 article from the Washington Post concluded that while there is no hard evidence of shady dealings on the part of the Clinton Foundation in Haiti, it does seem that there were significant levels of “poor planning” as well as “unsustainable outcomes for taxpayer-funded projects,” which, in the end, meant that several of the projects affiliated with the Clinton Foundation “didn’t come through.”
Some of Trump’s other jokes, however, fell closer to the jovial tradition of the dinner. One of his best jokes of the night self-deprecatingly played off his campaign refrain that the media is biased against him.
“The media is even more biased this year than ever before — ever. You want the proof?” Trump asked rhetorically.
“Michelle Obama made a speech and everyone loves it. It’s fantastic. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case.”
The crowd liked that one.
Clinton’s jokes throughout her roast of Trump remained friendlier than his, though she did throw in a few barbs.
She poked fun at Trump’s tendency to rate women’s physical appearance.
“People look at the Statue of Liberty, and they see a proud history of a nation of immigrants — a beacon of hope for people around the world,” the former Secretary of State said. “Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a 4, maybe a 5, if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.”
She also alluded to Trump’s proposals for stringent immigration laws and his repeated suggestion that President Obama was not born in the United States and may be a Muslim. An CNN article from last year provides a rundown of the latter.
“And if Donald does win, it will be awkward at the annual President’s Day photo, when all the former presidents gather at the White House, and not just with Bill. How is Barack going to get past the Muslim ban?”
Trump recently back peddled on the accusations that Obama was born in another country.
At Al Smith Dinner, Donald Trump Turns A Friendly Roast Into A Three-Alarm Fire https://t.co/2GEv0v4cWU
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) October 21, 2016
Overall, Clinton seemed to have better writers than Trump, but both candidates left something to be desired in terms of delivery. It wasn’t the most hilarious roast, but in an election year as heated and hostile as this one has been, we should take any moment of levity we can get.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]
