Comedian Jim Gaffigan joked about former President Donald Trump‘s infamous Access Hollywood tape in front of the ex-president and former first lady Melania Trump on Thursday.
Less than one month before Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, controversy erupted when The Washington Post published the 2005 audio recording of Trump boasting to Access Hollywood correspondent Billy Bush that he was able to “grab” women by their genitals because he was a celebrity.
The tape reemerged on Thursday night in New York City while Gaffigan was hosting the Al Smith Dinner, an annual event that raises money for Catholic charities. While the lighthearted dinner traditionally brings together presidential candidates every four years shortly before an election, Vice President Kamala Harris skipped the event this year in favor of campaigning in Wisconsin.
With Donald and Melania Trump seated only feet away, Gaffigan joked about the Access Hollywood tape by tying it to the former president falsely claiming during his September 10 debate with Harris that Haitian immigrants were abducting and eating pet cats in Springfield, Ohio.
Michael M. Santiago
“During the first and only debate, President Trump talked about migrants taking cats and eating them,” Gaffigan said. “You know, if you’re keeping track at home, this is the second time grabbing a kitty has been part of a campaign issue.”
Mary Callahan Erdoes, vice chair of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation board, could then be heard telling Gaffigan, “We talked about leaving that out.” Gaffigan responded, “I was gonna leave that out.”
The former president was smiling throughout Gaffigan’s joke, while the former first lady appeared stone-faced at the time the punchline was delivered. The larger audience responded with a mixture of groans, laughter and stunned silence.
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Thursday night.
While Gaffigan’s Access Hollywood reference appeared to strike a nerve for some on Thursday, “roasting” presidential candidates is standard practice at the Al Smith Dinner, with the candidates often taking comedic shots at each other.
Trump and Clinton roasted each other while both spoke at the 2016 dinner. Trump and President Joe Biden contributed video messages to the 2020 version of the event, which did not include the typical humor and was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vice president appeared at the event on Thursday in a roughly three-minute recorded video message that featured former Saturday Night Live cast member Molly Shannon’s Catholic character Mary Katherine Gallagher.
The Al Smith Dinner is named after former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith, who became the first Catholic nominated for president by a major U.S. political party when he ran as the Democratic nominee in the 1928 presidential election. Smith lost to Republican former President Herbert Hoover.
