Trump booed for attack on Clinton

DONALD TRUMP and Hillary Clinton have traded sharp barbs and brutal put-downs at a supposedly light-hearted New York charity gala, with many in the well-heeled crowd turning on the Republican nominee midway through his remarks and showering him with jeers.

The annual white-tie Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner – often the last time the US presidential nominees share a stage before election day – is traditionally a time when campaign hostilities are set aside.

But Mr Trump, who had drawn big laughs earlier in the speech, repeatedly took caustic swipes at Democrat Mrs Clinton, drawing rare boos at an event meant to raise money for impoverished children throughout New York.

He appeared to straddle the line when he talked about how “listening to Hillary rattle on and rattle on” had made him better appreciate his former nemesis Rosie O’Donnell. But he then seemed to cross it when he referred to her as “corrupt” during a lengthy riff on the FBI’s investigation into her use of a private email server as US secretary of state.

“Hillary is so corrupt she got kicked off the Watergate Commission. How corrupt do you have to be to get kicked off the Watergate Commission? Pretty corrupt,” he said to loud boos and at least one call to get off the stage.

Mrs Clinton also veered into personal digs, making one joke in which she said the Statue of Liberty, for most Americans, represented a symbol of hope for immigrants.

“Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a ‘4’,” she said.

“Maybe a ‘5’ if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.”