Friday, October 21, 2016

Hillary Clinton at the Al Smith Dinner



This is Hillary Clinton's speech at the 2016 Al Smith Dinner. These are supposed to be humorous, and both presidential candidates made fun of each other.

But Donald Trump was booed when he became nasty. In a roast, you're not supposed to cross the line from funny to inappropriate. (Of course, that line is subjective. I doubt if he was booed by any of his supporters.)

I thought that Clinton did a good job here. She was no Barack Obama, who could make a living as a comedian (if he had good writers, at least), but she was funny. And by and large, her jabs against Trump were clever and biting. "But Donald Trump really is as healthy as a horse - you know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on."

Note that Trump made a point of smiling throughout her speech. (You can judge for yourself how hard that was for him.) Clearly, one of his managers warned him not to behave as he did at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, where he was visibly steamed at Seth Meyers' jokes. Indeed, his reaction became a joke, itself.

Clearly, no one warned Rudy Giuliani, though. Heh, heh. Did you see his face? But then, he's not running for anything, so he doesn't have to pretend.

Politically, Clinton did well here, too, I'd say. This is a Catholic Charities fundraiser, and you could certainly tell that from her speech. But she made some serious points at the end which we can all agree with (though I wouldn't necessarily agree with everything she said).

2 comments:

Chimeradave said...

I just watched Trump's, man what a moron. We already knew from his comedy central roast that he has no sense of humor. Doesnt he realize no one is laughing? They are all in shock or booing. Guess he is just such a classless asshole that he just doesnt care. People have let him get away with anything his whole life because of his money.

Bill Garthright said...

You're a real glutton for punishment, John. But yes, that describes Trump exactly.