Amid a nasty race, one kind moment for Trump and Clinton
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may have pummeled each other publicly during the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner Thursday night, but the man who sat between them said that they exchanged some kind words in private.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan told NBC’s Today on Friday morning that he was “very moved by the obvious attempt on behalf of both Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump to kinda be courteous, to get along, to say nice things privately to one another.”
The three of them prayed ahead of the dinner, and afterward there was a moment you may not believe if you watched their exchanges during Wednesday night’s debate.
“After the little prayer, Mr. Trump turned to Secretary Clinton and said, 'You know, you are one tough and talented woman.' And he said this has been a good experience and this whole campaign, as tough as it’s been,” Dolan said. “And she said to him, "And Donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards.' ”
“The purpose of the evening is to break some of that ice, and thanks be to God it works,” Dolan said at another point in the interview.
But one thing that didn’t work very well was the candidates' attempts at self-deprecating humor. Both Trump and Clinton were keynote speakers for the traditionally comedic “roast” style dinner. There were some harsh jabs at each other, and Trump even got booed.
“The amity that I just described maybe wasn’t as present during both addresses,” Dolan said. “Last night, the two candidates, the butt of their jokes, was the other person. The characteristic of the evening is self-deprecating, humble humor and that seems to be a tougher and tougher goal to achieve — as was obvious last night.”