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New York, October 21
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump exchanged jokes sprinkled with acid remarks at a New York charity dinner held a day after the last presidential debate before the US elections on November 8.
The two candidates managed to sit two seats from each other and remained mostly civil at the white-tie Al Smith Dinner, the traditional break from attacks during every US presidential campaign cycle, NBC News reported. The Manhattan billionaire started by noting that he knew he was supposed to begin with a “self-deprecating joke”.
“Some people think that might be tough for me,” he said to laughter. “The truth is I’m actually a modest person. In fact, people tell me modesty might be my best quality — even better than my temperament.” Trump then riffed on themes he brings up often on the campaign trail, such as mocking the size of Clinton’s rallies and media bias.
Eventually, boos began emerging as Trump dropped the jokes almost entirely. “Here she is in public, pretending not to hate Catholics,” Trump said, referencing an apparent email exposed by WikiLeaks in which a Clinton spokeswoman seemed to joke about Catholics and evangelicals. Clinton stuck to the traditional script as she took the dais second.
“I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here,” she told the audience. “Usually, I charge a lot for speeches like this.” Turning to Trump, the former Secretary of State said, “Donald, if at any time you don’t like what I say, feel free to stand up and shout ‘Wrong!’ after I say it.” And diving into Trump’s remark that he would not accept the result of the upcoming election if he lost, she said: “I’m surprised I’m up here at all. I didn’t think he’d be OK with a peaceful transition of power.” — IANS
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