Former President Donald Trump on Thursday night insulted Vice President Kamala Harris’ family, repeatedly mispronounced her name and complained about how badly he was treated during his presidency, drawing occasional cheers and some laughs from a friendly crowd at the Al Smith charity dinner.
Trump’s monologue at the storied Catholic fundraiser, a New York City venue that has traditionally featured light roasts by the two major-party nominees in presidential election years, came as Harris – who decided last month she would skip the event – wrapped up her sixth trip to battleground Wisconsin since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
A thousand highway miles away – barnstorming the critical blue wall states and trying to shore up her most favorable path to the White House – she sharpened her attacks on her GOP rival by using his words against him as the race enters its final weeks.
“It just gets more unbelievable sometimes. And now the man calls himself the father of?IVF,” Harris said on Thursday, recalling Trump’s remark at an all-women’s town hall. “I mean, what does that even mean?” And she accused Trump of “gaslighting” the American people after he called January 6, 2021, a “day of love” at his Univision town hall earlier this week.
Back in Manhattan, the former president was surrounded by a motley crew of friends, foes, and those who might qualify as both. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and former first lady Melania Trump flanked Trump, who might have noticed that New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully brought a massive civil fraud case against him, loomed over his shoulder. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, a big donor, did too. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat, mostly expressionless, during the former president’s remarks.
When his time came to speak, Trump offered up a few one-liners, but mostly stuck to insulting his rivals, arguing that Harris’ absence was “deeply disrespectful” to Catholics.
Exit polls in 2020 showed Biden — who’d become the nation’s second Catholic president — finishing with a 5-point lead over Trump with Catholic voters. Trump outpaced Hillary Clinton four years earlier by about the same margin. Asked about the race in September, Pope Francis said only that Americans should “choose the lesser of two evils.”
As he’s done so often on the trail, Trump disparaged the vice president’s intelligence.
“Right now, we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child. There’s a person that has nothing going. No intelligence whatsoever,” Trump said. “But enough about Kamala Harris.”
After ridiculing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over support for transgender rights, Trump took a beat to acknowledge that politicians have historically used the event to dispense with some self-deprecating humor.
“Nope,” he said after a pause. “I’ve got nothing.”
The former president in his remarks also doubled down on his support for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on corruption charges by federal prosecutors last month. After wishing Adams “good luck,” Trump repeated the familiar canard that the Justice Department indicted Adams over the mayor’s criticism of the Biden administration’s border policy.
“You’re going to win, I think you’re going to win, I know you’re going to win, so good luck,” Trump told Adams. “Good luck. I don’t like what they do.”
Trump was convicted earlier this year in New York of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He’s pleaded not guilty in three additional criminal cases, which he frequently claims – without evidence – are political payback orchestrated by Biden.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks a a rally at Resch Expo on October 17, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Harris was not at the dinner, which was held remotely in 2020 during the Covid pandemic, but did send a video message to attendees.
“The Gospel of Luke tells us that faith has the power to shine a light on those living in darkness, and to guide our feet in the path of peace,” Harris said. “And in honor of the great Al Smith, let us fight to build a better future with faith in God, our country and in each other.”
The vice president in her video also performed a skit with comedian Molly Shannon, who slipped back into character as “Saturday Night Live’s” Mary Katherine Gallagher, the perpetually overexcited Catholic schoolgirl, who advised Harris not to “say anything negative about the Catholics” in her remarks.
“I would never do that, no matter where I was,” Harris said, before delivering her punchline. “That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.”
Trump did just that, last week, during a campaign stop in the Motor City, which he compared to a “developing nation.”
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