Boos and Burns: At Thursday’s Charity Roast, Clinton and Trump Got Personal

In an unusually personal and venomous presidential campaign, it is hardly a surprise that when the two candidates got together Thursday night for a charity roast, the mood darkened quite quickly. Usually an occasion for convivial ribbing, this year’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner was no casual affair. Named after the first Catholic to win a major party nomination, Democrat and former New York governor Alfred E. Smith (he lost to Herbert Hoover in 1928), the quadrennial dinner is meant to raise money for a Catholic foundation, and less officially, to temper the home stretch before Election Day.

Donald Trump started off strong, toeing the line between roasting his opponent, Hillary Clinton, and using the podium as yet another opportunity to launch personal attacks. One of his more well received jabs of the night came when he addressed the claims that his wife Melania has plagiarized speeches by Michelle Obama. “They think [Obama] is absolutely great,” he said. “My wife Melania gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case.”

At times however, Trump sounded like he thought the audience was made up of his rally attendees, not a gaggle of New York City elite. His more caustic remarks drew jeers and boos from the crowd at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, which included former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, and the city’s Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

“Hillary believes that it’s vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private,” Trump said. “Here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.” He was referring to one of Clinton’s leaked emails that included a transcript of a speech in which she mentioned keeping public and private stances separate, and another in which one of her campaign officials questioned some Catholic beliefs.

Watch Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton roast each other at the annual Al Smith dinner pic.twitter.com/x0TaKpic22

— Press Association (@PA) October 21, 2016

Though the night was centered around them speaking about each other, Clinton and Trump hardly acknowledged each other’s existence. Eye contact between the two was a rarity, and they only briefly shook hands as they were leaving the room. With Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, sitting between them (the “iciest place on the planet,” he said), there was no elbow rubbing or dinner chatter, though they did share a fleeting private conversation at one point.

Clinton was more self-deprecating than her famously thin-skinned counterpart. “I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here,” she said. “Usually, I charge a lot for speeches like this,” referencing her widely-maligned paid speeches to Wall Street firms. She also found material in Trump’s penchant for hitching a number ranking to women: “Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a ‘4,’” she said. “Maybe a ‘5’ if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.”

Clinton also addressed Trump’s recent claims the election will be rigged, saying he will only accept the results “if I win.” Clinton said: “It’s amazing I’m up here after Donald. I didn’t think he’d be O.K. with a peaceful transition of power.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.