Trump and Clinton carry barbs into charity dinner
NEW YORK: Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton took their acrimonious presidential contest to a charity dinner, where Trump drew boos from the well-heeled audience when his jokes veered well into the jagged terrain of his campaign speeches.
The candidates shared the stage Thursday night at an annual white-tie dinner in New York City that raises money for needy children and typically offers White House hopefuls a respite from election tensions. Trump, lagging Clinton in national opinion polls, had slugged it out with his rival on Wednesday night at their third and final presidential debate before the Nov 8 election. He drew sharp rebukes from Democrats and many in his own party for saying during the debate that he thinks the election is being rigged and so will not commit yet to accepting the outcome.
Alfred Smith V, whose family hosts the dinner named after the state’s former governor, Alfred E. Smith, called Thursday’s dinner “one for the record books” and said it echoed the Las Vegas debate.
“Donald had some very solid minutes early on and eventually he crossed the line and took it a little too far,” he told CNN on Friday. “Hillary, on the other hand, was able to laugh at herself and at the same time not underplay any of the serious things that Donald Trump has said or done.”
Both presidential candidates call New York home but the crowd of financiers and political and media figures was largely in Clinton’s court. Trump spoke first and set the room on edge with bitter jabs, drawing boos with his label of Clinton, a former secretary of state, as “corrupt.”
“With all of the heated back and forth between my opponent and me at the debate last night, we have proven that we can actually be civil to each other,” Trump said. “In fact just before taking the dais, Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly said, ‘Pardon me.’”