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Re-Watch The Al Smith Dinner In All Its Glory
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a fundraiser for Catholic charities, took place Thursday night, and much like they have at past presidential debates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took the opportunity to roast each other there. If you missed it, no worries. Here's how to re-watch the presidential candidates' Al Smith Dinner speeches.
For anyone who isn't wealthy, the white-tie event would be difficult to attend. The pricey charity dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City costs anywhere from $3,000 to $25,000 to attend individually, with prices between $50,000 and $150,000 to reserve a table, according to the foundation's website. Thankfully, for people like me who don't have an extra few thousand dollars to spare, the event was live-streamed through a few different sources. And for anyone who missed the live-stream, plenty of news outlets are publishing clips of speeches from the event.
The Al Smith Dinner is famous during presidential election years for having presidential candidates give humorous, lighthearted speeches, à la the White House Correspondents Dinner, for a good cause. Usually the jokes tend to be more self-deprecating than biting, but this year was different. While Clinton and Trump had a few jokes each at their own expenses, the fact that they are currently engaged in a contentious, possibly bitter battle for the presidency was very clear. At one point, Trump was even booed by the audience for some of his harsher remarks against Clinton. And Clinton held her own against Trump with her own set of entertaining jabs.
The candidates' speeches weren't a contest or a debate, so there's technically no winner. Still, you can judge for yourself who gave the better speech. Or you can enjoy them both. Whatever floats your boat.
The Full Dinner
This clip includes even the parts before the speeches start, like the actual eating part of the dinner. If you want to understand the meaning of true discomfort, feel free to watch Trump and Clinton sit one seat apart without acknowledging each other or conversing. Whoever made the seating chart for this event created a seriously awkward situation. At least they put Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, between them as a sort of buffer zone.
The Speeches
This video includes just the public speaking portion of the evening, so you can skip the part of the event that would make you hungry.
Trump's Speech
If you want to relive the moments when Trump roasted Clinton, here's a clip of just his keynote speech.
Clinton's Speech
And here's just Clinton's keynote speech follow-up to Trump's moment.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan
As a bonus, here's Dolan's reaction to the Al Smith Dinner. He took a positive spin on things saying, "The fact that we're together, the fact that they shake hands at the end and say 'See you on the campaign trail,' — that's not bad."
So, happy watching, because you're going to want to refer back to these whenever you need a good dose of more lighthearted election-related news.