Big CNN Trump Critic Brian Stelter Admits Trump Was 'Funny' at Al Smith Dinner: 'Some Great Jokes'

CNN senior media analyst and longtime critic of former President Trump Brian Stelter admitted that Trump's speech at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner on Thursday night in New York City was “funny” and heartfelt in places.

The CNN pundit, who recently returned to the network after his show was canceled in 2022, praised the former president's jokes at the event as well as his self-deprecating remarks about the two assassination attempts against him.

“I thought he was funny. I thought he actually made some great jokes. I thought the best moment was when he talked about the assassination attempts and made light of what he had experienced,” he said during a CNN broadcast after the famous dinner benefiting Catholic Charities held in New York City.

HARRIS virtually attends Catholic charity dinner headlined by rival Trump

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter praises former President Trump's jokes at the recent Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner.

During his speech, the former president joked: “Tradition says that tonight I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes. So here we go. No. I have nothing. I have nothing. There's nothing to do.” “I guess I just don't see the point in shooting at myself when other people have been shooting at me for so long.”

Stelter continued, praising Trump for being able to joke about the traumatic events he has endured in recent months, including being shot in the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania in July and the other assassination attempt at his golf course in West Palm Beach in September. In the latter incident, the suspected attacker did not fire any shots.

“I think he's experiencing real trauma, real post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shootings,” Stelter said, adding, “But he still has the opportunity to have a lighthearted moment in that room and he took advantage of that fact “That Kamala Harris didn't do that.” There.”

He criticized Trump for mispronouncing Harris' first name during the event, adding, “However, it's frustrating that he doesn't pronounce her name correctly. It's not difficult. And he goes out of his way to insult them in a way that I think is racist.” Trump repeatedly referred to Harris as “Kamala” during the event, emphasizing the middle syllable.

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner at the Hilton Midtown in New York on March 17, 2020 . October 2024. (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Other CNN experts didn't find Trump's speech as amusing as Stelter. CNN commentator Karen Finney said in a “CNN This Morning” panel on Friday, “I don't know if it was funny.” She also praised Harris for skipping dinner and said she seemed focused on her campaign and not in a room with “old” and “boring” “white men”.

KAMALA HARRIS plans to skip the historic Al Smith dinner despite a long-standing tradition

“This is a stuffy room full of insiders, the epitome of the back room of old New York, old, stodgy, mostly white men… and she's not one of them,” the commentator declared, adding, “That's not who she is. This is not the place she comes from.”

Harris' absence from the event marked the first time in 40 years that a major presidential candidate has turned down the Al Smith dinner.

In her place, the Harris campaign sent in a recorded video of Harris addressing dinner attendees, which was played just before Trump's remarks. The video also starred comedian Molly Shannon as her “Saturday Night Live” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, a quirky Catholic student.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Mercer County, New Jersey, on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, en route to a campaign event in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Critics on social media and even speakers at the dinner mocked Harris for her absence, with both comedian Jim Gaffigan and Trump yanking her from the podium.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Finney continued to defend Harris against this criticism: “You know, she's someone – she would be the first president to have served at the local, state and federal level. She's, you know, women and usually women of color, we're not in those back rooms. We are not in these rooms.

“For her, traveling with people was the smarter choice for several reasons. There was nothing for her to gain by going to this dinner. In a hundred-day campaign, she had much more to gain, especially being on the road,” the commentator concluded.