Thursday night the presidential candidates took a break from the campaign trail to speak at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial dinner. The event takes place annually in New York City, and benefits Catholic charities for children in poverty.
Since 1945, the year of the first dinner, only two presidents — Bill Clinton and Harry Truman — have not spoken at the dinner.
Below are some of the night’s more notable zingers.
Hillary Clinton
1. “It’s a treat for all of you, too, because I charge a lot for speeches like this.”
The Democratic candidate attempted to show a more human side at the dinner, by mocking some of the things for which she is most often criticized. Here she is referencing her generously compensated speeches at Wall Street banks and universities, the partial transcripts of which were recently released by WikiLeaks.
2. “This is such a special event that I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here.”
Hillary has faced accusation of low stamina from The Donald.
3. “And Donald, after listening to your speech, I will also enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it.”
Hillary didn’t pass on the opportunity to ridicule her opponent, however. This line refers to the difficult relationship Mr. Trump appears to have with his running mate.
4. “Now, you notice there is no TelePrompter tonight, which is probably smart because maybe you saw Donald dismantle his prompter the other day. And I get that. They’re hard to keep up with. And I’m sure it’s harder when you’re translating from the original Russian.”
The Clinton campaign has refused to comment on individual emails from John Podesta’s account leaked to the press. Instead they have focused on the leak’s provenance. The emails are widely reported to have been released by Russian agents.
See Clinton’s full speech here:
Donald Trump
1. “But I really have to say the media is even more biased than ever before. You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech. And everyone loves it, it’s fantastic. They think she’s absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech and people get on her case.”
This was definitely the line that stood out the most. It refers to allegations that Melania Trump’s convention speech was plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic Convention Speech.
2. “It’s great to be here with 1,000 wonderful people. Or, as I call it, a small, intimate dinner with some friends. Or, as Hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season.”
Here Trump is knocking the relatively small crowds Hillary draws to her rallies.
3. “In fact, just before taking the dais, Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very simply said, ‘Pardon me.’ And I very quietly replied, let me talk to you about that after I get into office.”
In the second debate, Trump said that, if elected, he would ask his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to put Hillary in jail for her email practices.
See Trump’s full speech below:
