US election: Clinton and Trump trade barbs at Al Smith dinner

White House rivals Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have poked fun at each other at a charity dinner, a day after their bitter duel on the debate stage.

She laughed as Mr Trump joked about her well-paid speeches and the FBI investigation into her private email.

But he was booed when he joked that she hated Catholics.

The annual Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York is a white-tie gala that every four years features the presidential candidates.

There is a tradition that the rivals stand up and make jokes about each other, but this year it comes after one of the most rancorous campaigns in memory.

On Wednesday night in Las Vegas at their final debate, Mr Trump called his Democratic rival a “nasty woman” and they both interrupted each other throughout. They refused to shake hands before or after.

His nickname for her is “Crooked Hillary” and he has threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to have her jailed if he becomes president.

Mrs Clinton has said her Republican rival is running a “hateful, divisive campaign” and is unfit to take the highest office.

But at the New York event, they briefly put their differences aside and sat just one seat apart, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan between them.
Media captionHillary Clinton was in self-deprecating mood

When they entered and took their seats, they did not shake hands or make eye contact, but when Mr Trump stood up to speak, he gave her a friendly double-pat on her shoulder.

He joked that this crowd – of about 1,500 people – was her biggest audience yet, and in a dig at her Wall St connections, he said it would be unusual for her to be with so many corporate leaders and not get paid.

But when he said she was so corrupt she got booted off the Watergate commission, boos rang out.

And they resurfaced when, in a reference to emails hacked within her campaign team, he said she was “pretending not to hate Catholics”. It was one of the few occasions when the smile left Mrs Clinton’s face.
Image copyright AP
Image caption The event raises millions of dollars for poor and needy children
Image copyright AFP
Image caption They called a truce although some of the jokes were close to the bone

Perhaps his best line was when he referred in jest to his wife Melania’s plagiarised speech in July, which borrowed from First Lady Michelle Obama.

Then Mrs Clinton stood up and had her chance. She said that if he won the election, he would become “the first president who started a Twitter war with Cher”.

Instead of seeing the Statue of Liberty being a beacon of hope, Mr Trump rates her looks as a “four” or maybe a five if she loses the torch and tablet, and changes her hair, Mrs Clinton joked.
Some of her jokes…

“I’ve had to listen to Donald Trump for three full debates… I have now stood next to Donald Trump longer than any of his campaign managers.”

“After listening to your speech, I will enjoy hearing [his running mate] Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it.”

“I’m so flattered Donald thought I used some kind of performance enhancer. I did. It’s called preparation”
And his…

“Last night, I called Hillary a nasty woman, but this stuff is all relative. After listening to Hillary rattle on and on and on, I don’t think so badly of Rosie O’Donnell anymore.”

“Now I’m told Hillary went to confession before tonight’s event, but the priest was having a hard time when he asked her about her sins, and she said she couldn’t remember 39 times.”