Apparently, when Jim Gaffigan got invited to the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in his role as a comedian, people forgot that it was a roast that treats both sides of the political aisle with contempt.
Indeed, Kamala Harris and her running mate — the man Gaffigan plays on “Saturday Night Live,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — were absent from the event because they had literally anything else to do Thursday. (An odd choice, since both presidential candidates usually make appearances at the event — and Donald Trump, who certainly wasn’t facing a simpatico audience in New York City, rolled with the punches.)
And it’s not like Gaffigan didn’t know where he stood, either: “If I am too critical of Vice President Harris, I will lose friendships and mess up my career,” he said. “And if I am too critical of President Trump, I will lose friendships and improve my career. You know what I mean?”
He also promised that “I’m going to be fair and balanced tonight — and I’m going to make jokes about both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.”
In other words, you know where the red meat was being thrown to, even if the Democratic candidate wasn’t there. But apparently, Democrats are a touchy sort — especially when they were reminded about who would initially have been the candidate showing up to the dinner after the primaries and who could have showed up if she wanted to.
The first extended shade the crowd threw Gaffigan during his set was after he pointed out that President Joe Biden wasn’t in attendance at that the event, which raises money for Catholic charities and is named after the former Democratic New York governor who ran for president as a Democrat in 1928.
“Of course, Joe Biden was our second Catholic president, right, after JFK,” Gaffigan said. “President Biden couldn’t be here tonight; the DNC made sure of that.”
After the hissing: “Oh, that’s — I guess I’m the only one that reads history,” Gaffigan said by way of apology.
But then, Gaffigan hit a main nerve by pointing out how calls saying Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy” are more than slightly hypocritical.
Do you like Jim Gaffigan?
“The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s re-election is a threat to democracy,” he said. “In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.”
“In other words, all her dreams have come true,” Gaffigan said as the room sat virtually silent, save for a few brave hoots and hollers. (Along with a broad smile from former President Trump, it must be noted.)
“It really makes you consider the power of prayer, right, cardinal?” Gaffigan said, turning to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. “Sometimes prayers take three-and-a-half years and a George Clooney Op-Ed.”
Jim Gaffigan: “The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.” pic.twitter.com/ZVgqMbT2p5
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 18, 2024
This joke came at the end of Gaffigan’s set, mind you, which ran over 20 minutes. But apparently, bringing up the inconvenient facts about febrile Democratic rhetoric (Gaffigan joked about the civil war that the left keeps on thinking might happen, wondering if we’ve decided which side wears blue and which side wears grey this time: “‘Cause I look better in blue, ’cause of my eyes, you know.”
Another point of contention with the crowd: making fun of New York Mayor Eric Adams, recently indicted on corruption charges involving free business class travel on Turkish Airlines, in part.
“Ten million dollars is pretty impressive,” he said of the money the event had raised. “You know what I mean? Granted, it could get you a studio apartment in Manhattan. Which seems, you know, expensive, especially considering you can get a mayor for two business class flights.”
But it was the broadside on the “threat to democracy” that Trump poses — so great that the democratically selected candidate of the Democratic Party had to be told that he wasn’t going to run again — that drew the most attention online, at least from Gaffigan’s set.
JIM GAFFIGAN: “The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.
“Sometimes prayers take 3.5 years and a… pic.twitter.com/pyFJvzA5ij
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 18, 2024
Breaking: Jim Gaffigan just lost all of his future comedy specials on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/fbB4ustojL
— Clint Russell (@LibertyLockPod) October 18, 2024
And there was not a whole lot of laughing because the jokes were … well, accurate.
In the last few weeks of the campaign, the “joy and vibes” election of the summer of Kamala has given way to “Donald Trump is a literal Nazi and will imprison you” rhetoric. The truth hurts, apparently — a lot.
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