Former President Trump on Thursday unloaded on Vice President Harris at the Al Smith charity dinner in New York City, mocking her absence from the evening’s event, disparaging her intelligence and swiping at some of her supporters.
Trump spoke for roughly 30 minutes at the event, which was attended by congressional leaders, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D). But Trump repeatedly returned to Harris, who skipped the dinner to campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
“My opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event, and in particular to our great Catholic community. Very disrespectful,” Trump said to applause.
“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,” he added later, a reference to her support for demonstrators who were arrested during the protests in response to George Floyd’s killing in 2020.
Trump, as he does frequently at his campaign rallies, chided Harris for her boisterous laugh and criticized her intelligence.
“The fact is, we need new leadership in this country,” Trump said. “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. But enough about Kamala Harris.”
At one point, Trump took a swipe at “White Dudes for Harris,” a grassroots effort to rally support among white men for the vice president.
“There’s a group called White Dudes for Harris. But I’m not worried about them,” Trump said. “Their wives and their wives’ lovers are all voting for me.”
Trump appeared to receive a mixed reception from the audience, which included both Democrats and Republicans. The former president acknowledged certain jokes did not land, including one making light of second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s past affair with a nanny and another referring to former President Obama as “Barack Hussein Obama.”
Harris did not attend the dinner in person as she campaigned in Wisconsin. Instead, she addressed the event via a video that featured comedian Molly Shannon portraying her “Saturday Night Live” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, who is a Catholic schoolgirl.
The vice president chided Trump in the video for his election denialism and for attacking the city of Detroit while speaking in Detroit.
Harris was far from the only prominent figure Trump roasted during his remarks.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was seated directly next to the podium as Trump spoke, and the senator sought to keep a stern face throughout, only occasionally cracking a smile. Trump recounted cutting a check for Schumer during an early campaign for office.
“But look on the bright side,” Trump told Schumer at one point. “Considering how woke your party has become, If Kamala loses you still have the chance to become the first woman president.”
Trump expressed sympathy Adams, the New York City mayor who was recently indicted on federal corruption charges.
“Good luck with everything. They went after you. They went after you, mayor. Nine and a half months ago I said he just said something bad about the administration,” Trump said. “He’s going to be indicted any moment. I think you’re going to win. I know you’re going to win.”
The former president was less sympathetic to former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was also in attendance, as was former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“We have another former NYC mayor with us. Frankly, easily the worst in our history. And it’s not Michael, that I can tell you,” Trump said. “I’m surprised that Bill de Blasio is actually able to make it tonight to be honest. He was a terrible mayor. I don’t give a s*** if this is comedy or not. He was a terrible mayor. He did a horrible job. That’s not comedy, by the way. That’s fact.”
Thursday night’s event is the 79th annual dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation and is hosted by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Presidential candidates typically have delivered remarks every four years at the dinner and traded good-natured jokes, though Trump upended the event in 2016 by attacking Hillary Clinton. Trump and President Biden spoke virtually in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.