Who knew Hillary Clinton could be such a savage joke teller? She’s been through a lot this election cycle, having to deal with Donald Trump’s stump speeches and the entire GOP acting like children around him, and has held up fairly well. One fainting spell aside, that is.
So on Thursday night at the annual Al Smith Charity Dinner, where that year’s presidential candidates roast each other for charity and share the stage one last time before Election Day, Hillary decided to go for the jugular and show off her joke-telling skills.
But not before Trump gave his own speech, which bombed spectacularly. Watch the full video of his “jokes” below, but be warned that you probably won’t laugh at anything other than Giuliani’s facial expressions and Melania’s confusion over whether her husband mocking her is humorous or not.
https://twitter.com/mattsgorman/status/789274581068419072
Hillary though, Hillary went all out. It’s almost assuredly the funniest she’s ever been in public, and her jokes had Twitter howling. She made fun of herself a decent amount, which is a general requirement of all roasts and a good move politically.
Clinton notes the TV anchors at the Smith dinner: "this counts as a press conference, right?"
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 21, 2016
She even tossed in a reference to the well known feud between New York governor Anthony Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.
Clinton at Al Smith dinner: "How did you get the governor and mayor here together? LIVE: https://t.co/l2eQt6VuPj pic.twitter.com/Drx1NJ19kc
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) October 21, 2016
Then, she went at Trump. Hilariously, without mercy, and to the great joy of many of her fans.
OH SNAP! https://t.co/q57IHwnZwD
— stevehorton.bsky.social (@tropicalsteve) October 21, 2016
"Donald, I did enjoy listening to your speech…I’m sure I’ll enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny you ever gave it." —Hillary #AlSmithDinner
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 21, 2016
Savage: Hillary says she "looks forward to hearing what a billionaire has to say," putting Bloomberg over Trump. #AlSmithDinner
— Mkay (@JoyAnnReid) October 21, 2016
Trump (shockingly!) was not happy about it.
Somebody called a whaaaaambulance. pic.twitter.com/f04FAcbgdT
— TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) October 21, 2016
But it got worse (or better – your mileage may vary depending on your side of the aisle.)
https://twitter.com/ira/status/789278976531234817
Clinton: "Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a 4, maybe a 5 if she loses the torch"
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 21, 2016
! ."Clinton: "I am so flattered that Donald thought I use some sort of performance enhancer. Now actually I did, it's called preparation
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) October 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/789277371081887744
And of course she couldn’t leave the dais before she brought Ted Cruz into things.
CLINTON: "Let's come together, remember what unites us, and just rip on Ted Cruz." https://t.co/KWeLXBR7ZS
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 21, 2016
The entire country has been spoiled with Obama’s natural comfort behind the mic and ability to vanquish his political opponents with amazing jokes. Whoever occupies the White House next will definitely not be as funny as Barack, but Hillary proved that if she has some good joke writers she can at least pull off some good digs.