Trump hurls profanities and bizarre insults at Al Smith Catholic Charity Dinner

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, an annual event in New York City for decades, is typically an evening of light-hearted fare where political and cultural figures take turns poking fun at each other and themselves. But former President Donald Trump hit the stage like a bombshell at the charity event on Thursday night, delivering a profanity-filled speech in which he alternately raged about the injustice of his legal situation and hostilely attacked his enemies.

Trump attacked President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the transgender community for about 30 minutes.

The white-tie dinner, which raises money for Catholic Charities, was typically the last time both major parties' presidential candidates appeared on the same stage before the election. Harris said last month that an inconsistent campaign event would prevent her from attending the event, something Trump repeatedly addressed in his speech.

“But I have to say, I was shocked when I heard that Kamala skipped the Al Smith dinner,” he said. “I was really hoping she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy. We would recognize it anywhere in this room.”

He often used his words sparingly, insulting Harris and Biden with a single insult. “We have someone in the White House who can barely speak, can barely put two coherent sentences together, who appears to have the mental capacity of a child, is a person who has no intelligence whatsoever – but enough about Kamala Harris,” Trump quipped.

The former president said he can't wait to wash the vice president's hands of his innocence after Election Day. “If we hopefully win, get rid of them. I'll like her a lot, but right now I can't stand her,” he said.

Trump's speech turned transphobic as he speculated about Harris' election chances. He turned to Schumer and said, “He looks dejected. But look on the bright side. Consider how woke your party has become. If she loses, you still have a chance to become the first female president.”

The former president later made another transphobic joke while targeting Harris' running mate. “I used to think Democrats were crazy for saying men had periods, but then I met Tim Walz,” Trump said.

He and Schumer were photographed together by the Associated Press at the end of the dinner, sitting at a table and talking. The New York Post reported that Schumer and Trump had been assigned seats close to each other, “with only Cardinal Dolan between them.”

Dolan was in the audience when Trump stormed the stage.

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s a comedy or not,” he said The Washington Post.

But the most important person who played a role in Trump's speech was, of course, himself. “I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes,” he told the audience. “So here it is,” he said, pausing for effect. “No. I have nothing. I have nothing!”

Trump added: “I guess I just don't see the point in shooting at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a long time.”

The reference to two recent assassination attempts gave Trump the opportunity to indulge in self-pity. He said he suffered more than Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson. “There has never been a president who was treated as badly as I was,” he lamented.