# Watching the Alfred E Smith Dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 21, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215 "2016-10-21T01:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/61 "2016-10-21T05:27:46Z")
Speaking of which, do I correctly remember hearing they flipped a coin to see who went first? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/62 "2016-10-21T05:29:34Z")
What was the basis, if anything, for his comment that she hated Catholics? Thanks for pointing out the link BTW: Mrs P and I just watched it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/63 "2016-10-21T05:37:18Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > Trump gave everybody exactly what they wanted. Most importantly he gave his people what they wanted. He went up a notch in my book. He now has one notch. He didn’t give the people in the room (mostly Republicans) what they wanted. It seems booing a speaker is not what is typically done at this thing. His base, sure. But he really doesn’t seem to realize there are Americans out there who are not bigots. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/64 "2016-10-21T05:38:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What was the basis, if anything, for his comment that she hated Catholics? > > Thanks for pointing out the link BTW: Mrs P and I just watched it. I watched the MSNBC commentary on it - someone seemed to imply that it was a joke, which could have worked if told by Chris Rock. I don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/65 "2016-10-21T05:48:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I watched the MSNBC commentary on it - someone seemed to imply that it was a joke, which could have worked if told by Chris Rock. I don’t see it. It’s based on some stuff Podesta wrote that was shared via WikiLeaks. Here’s a nice, distorted, right-wing view of the matter: [http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/wikileaks-podesta-left-wing-activist-plot-catholic-spring/](http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/wikileaks-podesta-left-wing-activist-plot-catholic-spring/) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/66 "2016-10-21T05:51:01Z")
It’s a reference to some e-mails revealed by Wikileaks that show some of the Clinton campaign staff making unflattering remarks regarding Catholics. > **[WikiLeaks emails appear to show Clinton spokeswoman joking about Catholics...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/10/12/wikileaks-emails-show-clinton-spokeswoman-joking-about-catholics-and-evangelicals/)** > > "It's an amazing bastardization of the faith,” said the email apparently sent to Clinton's communications director and campaign chairman. As far as I know, there is no evidence that Clinton herself made any such remarks, nor that she knew of or agreed with the views in her staffers’ e-mails. So basically Trump is lying about Clinton in order to take a cheap shot during a Catholic event. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/67 "2016-10-21T06:11:55Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Anyone want to bet that everything up to the Melania Trump joke (maybe the confession one as well) was written for him then after that he went off script and ranted his usually bile. It was such a stark contrast, jumping straight from a surprisingly self aware joke at his wife’s expense then straight into calling Clinton corrupt. I think he stayed on script (he’s still not great at reading from a teleprompter), but that’s where he started writing the script. This happens in some of the campaign’s written statements. The statement will be a fairly normal campaign statement (for Trump at least) and then right in the middle there will be a totally whackadoodle sentence obviously in Trump’s own voice. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/68 "2016-10-21T06:21:14Z")
Look at the expressions of the people sitting behind Trump, especially when he starts to go off the rails at 1:35:00, and for the next minute or so, through the booing. I wonder, who are the two men flanking him? The one on the viewers’ right looks especially uncomfortable. Hillary’s speech ends convincingly. As a former Bernie supporter I was a bit reluctant, in an “anyone but Trump” way, but after hearing it I feel better about voting for her. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/69 "2016-10-21T06:47:05Z")
What’s the deal with Trump’s “It Takes a Village,” joke, about Clinton taking a bunch of villages in Haiti? Is this in reference to something real, or a fever dream Trump had? ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/70 "2016-10-21T07:02:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s the deal with Trump’s “It Takes a Village,” joke, about Clinton taking a bunch of villages in Haiti? Is this in reference to something real, or a fever dream Trump had? Probably a lame reference to [her book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village) ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/71 "2016-10-21T07:08:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What’s the deal with Trump’s “It Takes a Village,” joke, about Clinton taking a bunch of villages in Haiti? Is this in reference to something real, or a fever dream Trump had? It’s a reference to claimed improper use of charity money donated to Haiti by the Clinton Foundation after the earth quake. No idea if it has any basis or not. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/72 "2016-10-21T07:20:55Z")
Based on the questions in this thread, it seems that Trump’s jokes were not only nasty but also hard to understand. If people here didn’t get the “hating Catholic” and “taking Haitian village” jokes, how likely is it that your average television viewer did? Although I assume the audience actually in attendance at the event would be following all campaign developments closely enough to get the jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/73 "2016-10-21T07:43:04Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Based on the questions in this thread, it seems that Trump’s jokes were not only nasty but also hard to understand. If people here didn’t get the “hating Catholic” and “taking Haitian village” jokes, how likely is it that your average television viewer did? He did this a few times in the debates too. In the last one he casually mentioned John Podesta as if he was a household name. He makes a lot of comments that assume that the right-wing Clinton conspiracy canon is general knowledge. It’s probably a consequence of having a campaign run out of the [Breitbart.com](http://Breitbart.com) headquarters. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/74 "2016-10-21T07:45:54Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > He did this a few times in the debates too. In the last one he casually mentioned John Podesta as if he was a household name. Of course, he believes everyone is in the self contained alt-right bubble that he’s in. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/75 "2016-10-21T07:58:03Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > He did this a few times in the debates too. In the last one he casually mentioned John Podesta as if he was a household name. He makes a lot of comments that assume that the right-wing Clinton conspiracy canon is general knowledge. It’s probably a consequence of having a campaign run out of the [Breitbart.com](http://Breitbart.com) headquarters. It’s probably also a certain amount of deliberate bluster. When he rattles off lists of names of people associated with Clinton who supposedly did horrible things, he probably knows very well that some of his base isn’t going to know who those people are or what they might have done. It boils down to the fact that they trust what Donald says, and if his word salad is delivered with enough confidence, and contains enough phrases that sound like they might be related to facts, his devoted followers will believe him without worrying what the details are. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/76 "2016-10-21T08:11:27Z")
Thanks for the explanation of the Podesta thing. I’ve never been into Russian fiction. As for why he thinks anyone cares, I wonder if it is because he just doesn’t see how his words and actions are bad, and so can’t understand why the public would be more focused on them instead of the corrupt corrupt emails. That also explains why he thinks the press is conspiring against him - any honest press would give him a pass and attack her. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/77 "2016-10-21T10:37:51Z")
Well, conservative Politico isn’t being kind to the Donald: [Trump draws boos at Catholic dinner - POLITICO](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-alfred-smith-dinner-catholic-charity-hillary-clinton-230134) ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/78 "2016-10-21T11:47:25Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > He didn’t give the people in the room (mostly Republicans) what they wanted. It seems booing a speaker is not what is typically done at this thing. > His base, sure. But he really doesn’t seem to realize there are Americans out there who are not bigots. He also gave every news organization what they wanted. He gave the people that hate him what they wanted. As far as the bigots go, if you subtracted the sexism from his history and added in maybe 8 hours of debate prep time, this election would be neck and neck. So I think he knows there are Americans who are not bigots, but he also knows a majority of Americans are bigots and he stood a very good chance of winning just off of that. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/79 "2016-10-21T11:55:20Z")
Trump shat on an American tradition. Every four years, the combatants show up and exchange good natured ribbing and self-deprecating humor for a charity. Instead of tickling his opponent’s ribs, he picked up a 2x4 and starting bashing her with it. This was a cheap shot and yet another sign that he lacks the temperament to be president. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215/80 "2016-10-21T12:40:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Trump shat on an American tradition. Every four years, the combatants show up and exchange good natured ribbing and self-deprecating humor for a charity. Instead of tickling his opponent’s ribs, he picked up a 2x4 and starting bashing her with it. This was a cheap shot and yet another sign that he lacks the temperament to be president. It’s not an American tradition. It’s a dinner for politically connected people in New York City. It started in 1945. It wasn’t a Presidential election event until 1960. There have been many years where both candidates did not go: Bill Clinton has never been invited and the candidates were not invited in 2004. Mondale didn’t accept the invitation. Carter was apparently booed in 1980. There’s a serious problem in this country with being able to discriminate between what are important events to the American people and what are important events to the journalist insiders based out of NYC. Trump knows what the dinner is about to the outsiders looking in and he took a big dump on it. Good for him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-the-alfred-e-smith-dinner/769215.md?page=5)