Former President Donald Trump broke decorum Thursday, morphing a historically lighthearted, bipartisan charity event in New York City into a bitter, profanity-laden rant against his political opponents.
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a Catholic fundraising event, is traditionally a well-regarded opportunity for both presidential candidates to poke fun at one another before the high tensions of the season culminate in Election Day. But Trump didn’t bring the jokes—instead, he spent his time on the dais hurling a string of insults at Vice President Kamala Harris, who opted to skip the event to campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin. (Wisconsin was projected this week to have flipped slightly in favor of Trump.)
“The two candidates for president are supposed to exchange good-natured barbs. And you know, we get along very well. I didn’t like Biden very much and now I like him quite a bit,” Trump said, practically repeating lines from his rallies. “And now I say that she’s much worse than him. He was a much better candidate than her, actually.”
“And when we hopefully win, dispose of her, I’ll like her a lot. But right now I can’t stand her. I’ve never liked people I was competing against, and when you do, a lot of bad things happen,” Trump said to a suddenly mum crowd.
Trump also appeared resentful that Harris had chosen to sit out of the event, despite the fact that he himself was the first candidate in the race to break election tradition by refusing to sit for a 60 Minutes interview last month, when he reportedly backed out of last-minute over fears that the rigorous show would fact-check him. (Trump has since backed out of several major interviews, spawning concerns that the MAGA leader is starting a media blackout with just days until voters have to decide who will lead the country.)
“If 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,” said Trump.
“Catholics, you gotta vote for me. Just remember. You better remember that I’m here and she’s not,” he said. “I could have done that, too.”
“I don’t give a shit if this is comedy or not,” Trump told the crowd of priests.
Trump is basically just doing his rally speech but the Al Smith dinner audience is laughing at his lines like it’s supposed to be comedy pic.twitter.com/w0P29v0pQC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2024
