Another face-to-face

At the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Clinton and Trump sat one seat apart. When they entered and took their seats, they did not shake hands or make eye contact.

Donald Trump said he was in a room full of wonderful people at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York. “Or as Hillary calls it, her largest crowd of her season,” he said with a chuckle, as Democratic rival Hillary Clinton laughed, too.

But as it progressed, Trump’s speech turned more biting.

“Here she is in public pretending not to hate Catholics,” he said. Several in the crowd booed.

Just 24 hours after engaging in fierce verbal combat in their final debate in Las Vegas, Clinton and Trump were nearly elbow to elbow again, seated at the same table at the ballroom in the Waldorf Astoria, at a charity dinner famous for its humorous speeches.

Clinton, who spoke second, began with the self-deprecatory remarks and gracious gestures that have been the hallmarks of previous dinners.

She told Trump that if he didn’t like what she was saying, “Feel free to stand up and shout ‘Wrong!’ while I’m talking.” That was a reference to Trump’s habit of interrupting her comments at the debate to disagree.

Clinton also shifted to more biting tone as her speech progressed, and added that after Trump’s speech that she’ll “enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it.” Trump, with his arms folded, laughed. But he didn’t always seem amused. “Looking back, I’ve had to listen to Donald for three full debates. And he says I don’t have any stamina. That is 4½ hours. I have now stood next to Donald Trump longer than any of his campaign managers,” Clinton said as a stone-faced Trump looked on.

During Wednesday’s debate, Trump had described Clinton as “such a nasty woman.” She called him “the most dangerous presidential candidate” in modern history. A day later, tradition at the 71-year-old event called for the two to lightheartedly rib each other. Their place settings were separated only by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York’s archbishop.

Before either candidate spoke Thursday, they were admonished to be civil by Al Smith IV, the great-grandson of the state’s 42nd governor. He won laughs when he spun an imaginary scene in which Trump greeted Clinton and asked how she was doing, and she would have said “Fine, now get out of the ladies’ dressing room.” Bloomberg