HE’S JUST A GIANT JOKE
Crowd jeers as Trump unloads low blows on Hil
Don barbs bomb at Al Smith dinner
HAVE YOU heard the one about the billionaire bombing at a charity dinner?
Donald Trump was booed and heckled Thursday night during the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel as he showed off his twisted sense of humor at the usually lighthearted affair.
In true Trump fashion, the GOP presidential candidate made more than a few cringe-worthy remarks ripping Hillary Clinton, earning a chorus of jeers from the wellheeled crowd.
“Here she is in public, pretending not to
STINKER Listening to your speech, I look forward to hearing Mike Pence deny you ever gave it.
hate Catholics,” Trump quipped as Clinton sat nearby, next to Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
Presidential candidates traditionally offer up a self-deprecating set of jokes at the dinner, which raises money for Catholic charities, but Trump spent much of his time on stage roasting his rival with a series of dark, biting one-liners.
“Last night, I called Hillary a ‘nasty woman.’ This stuff is all relative. After listening to Hillary rattle on and on, I don’t think so badly of Rosie O’Donnell anymore,” Trump said, referring to his longtime nemesis.
Some in the crowd yelled for the Republican standard bearer to get off the stage as he called Clinton corrupt and riffed on her emails, the FBI investigation, her paid speeches and the size of her rallies.
The former reality TV star did have a few funny moments in the first half of his awkward stand-up routine.
He teased the Catholic crowd that he had been “a carpenter who worked for his father.”
And he got laughs when he joked about his wife’s speech at the Republican National Convention that lifted lines from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic convention speech. His setup asserted media bias toward Democrats.
“My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech and people get on her case,” Trump said. “I don’t get it!”
But his clumsy Clinton-bashing clunkers lost him the crowd.
“According to her sworn testimony, Hillary has forgotten more things than most of us will ever know,” Trump quipped.
Perhaps the person in charge of the seating had a sense of humor as Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo were seated one chair apart.
Trump and Clinton were close as well, with only the divine intervention of Dolan separating them. The trio were seen chatting together a few times throughout the evening. Dolan later called his seat “the iciest place on the planet.”
Daily News Chairman & Publisher Mortimer B. Zuckerman, former mayors Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani and David Dinkins and a slew of other influential people were also on the dais.
Trump wasn’t the only one who was booed at the mostly cordial white-tie gala. De Blasio received a Bronx cheer as he was introduced by master of ceremonies Al E. Smith IV.
“Mayor de Blasio is here tonight,” Smith said, before addressing Hizzoner. “We’d like to apologize, we couldn’t grant you your request to sit to the left of everybody.”
Clinton took her share of jabs at The Donald during her time at the mic, but the crowd seemed more receptive to her attempts at humor.
“I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here,” Clinton teased. “Usually I charge a lot for speeches like this. Later, she called the crowd a “basket of adorables.” But she turned edgy also and cut on Trump. “It’s amazing I’m up here after Donald,” she said. “I didn’t think he’d be OK with a peaceful transition of power.” Clinton targeted Giuliani (photo), an ardent Trump supporter, mentioning his rise as a prosecutor targeting tax evaders. “But as the saying goes: If you can’t beat them, go on Fox News and call him a genius.” She also referenced rivalry.
“Your eminence, you do deserve great credit for bringing together two people who have been at each other’s throats,” she told Dolan. “Mortal enemies. Bitter foes. I’ve got to ask. How did you get the governor and the mayor here?”
About 1,500 guests gathered for the Big Apple event, which is held each October.
Attendees coughed up between $3,000 and $15,000 for the honor of eating alongside the upper echelons of New York society.
The dinner, named for the former New York governor and the first Catholic to receive a major party nomination for President, raises about $5 million each year to provide services for impoverished children.