“It’s a real pleasure to be with you tonight… To be anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my presence”: in the company (rare in public) of Melania, Donald Trump he made his debut like this on Thursday evening at ‘smith dinner’, the traditional Catholic charity dinner of the Archdiocese of New York where presidential candidates have joked about themselves and their opponents for 79 years. But the opening joke was one of the few moments of self-irony, a skill that the Tycoon lacks, even if he saved himself like this: “I don’t see the point of shooting jokes at myself when others are shooting at me”. A reference to the two attacks he suffered, from which he repeated that he had been saved by God. His show therefore focused more on attacks on rivals, including barbs and insults, without sparing anyone, except the Democratic mayor of New York Eric Adams with which he expressed his solidarity by wishing him “good luck” for the investigations he has undergone, which in any case “are nothing” compared to his.
“It’s a real pleasure to be with you tonight… To be anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my presence”
Donald Trump
In the audience, who welcomed him partly with boos and partly with applause, there was also Letizia James, the attorney general of New York who framed him for the tax fraud of his holding company. The main target was Kamala Harris, who preferred to focus her energy on the swing state of Wisconsin and sent only a video message, breaking tradition after 40 years. “Avoiding the event is deeply disrespectful, maybe he’s going hunting with his running mate,” Trump lambasted her, joking about the passion for hunting that Tim Walz is exhibiting on the election campaign. “But if you really wanted her to accept your invitation, you should have told her that the funds would be used to pay bail for the looters and rioters in Minneapolis,” he urged, referring to Kamala’s alleged support for protesters over George’s death Floyd in 2020. “However, remember that I am here, and she is not here”, he insisted, inviting Catholics to vote for him and underlining that the last Dem candidate to desert the dinner was Walter Mondale in 1984, when he lost 49 states out of 50, with only Minnesota winning. Then he hit Biden and Harris together: “we have someone in the White House who can barely speak, to put two coherent sentences together, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child… But enough about Kamala Harris,” he closed for effect, distorting his name and stating that he is “not intelligent”. The Tycoon did not even spare her husband Doug Emhoff, due to an affair he had in his previous marriage. He then targeted Barack Obama (emphasizing his middle name Hussein), as well as the virility of Tim Walz and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer who, “considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala loses she still has the chance to become the first female president.”
When Molly Shannon suggested that Kamala Harris not criticize Catholics at the event, she replied: “I would never do that, it would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.”
Kamala Harris
In his video, Harris responded by duetting with Molly Shannon, a popular actress from the satirical program Saturday Night. Among his digs are those for lying about the 2020 elections and for proclaiming himself the father of in vitro fertilization. When Shannon then suggested that she not criticize Catholics during the event, she replied: “I would never do that, it would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit”, evoking Trump’s recent gaffe. And Detroit was one of Kamala’s stops today in Wisconsin, where the Tycoon also landed: in this swing state the candidate then elected president in the last two elections won, in 2020 Biden by just 150 thousand votes. The ones who will make the difference will be the workers and the Arab community, which here gave life to the ‘uncommitted’ campaign against the White House line in Gaza and which is now hoping for a turning point after the killing of Yahya Sinwar. Meanwhile, next week the vice president will hold rallies in the swing state of Georgia, first with Barack Obama and then with Michelle, courting that black electorate where she remains with a large advantage (84% to 8% in the seven ‘battleground’ states according to a Howard poll University). Trump, on the other hand, is considering an event with Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the UN and former candidate for the White House, to win over the female vote, his Achilles’ heel.
