Last night, President Trump was the keynote speaker at the Al Smith Dinner in New York City, a fundraiser for Catholic charities that brings people of different political views together for a good cause. In presidential election years, both candidates traditionally appear to make speeches taking humorous jabs at each other.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-headline-sold-out-al-smith-charity-dinner-harris-sends-pre-recorded-video-message

It’s a sign of how panicky the Harris campaign must be that she became the first major party candidate in decades not to appear in person (other than at the 2020 COVID virtual event), snubbing the dinner to campaign in a battleground state. Instead, she sent a video message featuring her and former “SNL” star Molly Shannon as Catholic school girl Mary Katherine Gallagher. Critics noted that it allowed someone else to do most of the talking and handie the jokes. It didn’t go over well in the room. Trump joked that the last candidate to skip the dinner was Walter Mondale, and it didn’t work out so good for him.

Trump, on the other hand, showed up in person, despite the room being packed with his political enemies, including Chuck Schumer, Bill DeBlasio, Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who’s abusing the powers of her office to try to bankrupt and imprison him.

Despite that, he gave a well-received speech that was sometimes funny (“Tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes. Nope. I've got nothing”… “I’m not worried at all about (White Dudes for Harris) because their wives and their wives’ lovers are all voting for me”) and sometimes serious. He reached out to Democrats and offered to work together to make New York and America great again. You know, like fascists do. Some complained that he was too political or went on too long, to which I would say, “It’s Donald Trump. What’s your point?”

https://www.westernjournal.com/savage-roasts-yet-trump-brutalizes-absent-kamala-doug-emhoff-tim-walz-front-powerful-democrats/

(Full Trump speech here: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6363410527112)

I thought the most interesting thing about the event was the reaction to Trump, which was surprisingly warm, considering, as he pointed out, 75% of the people in the room probably hated him. The host, comic Jim Gaffigan, has been a harsh anti-Trumper on social media, but he seemed quite welcoming to Trump and even laughed at his jokes. Maybe he was just being a good host, but it seemed genuine. Some of Trump’s most strident political opponents, like Chuck Schumer, also laughed and shook Trump’s hand.

It showed that they can actually act like civilized adults if they force themselves to, or maybe that all their “Trump is a Nazi Hitler threat to democracy!!!” hysteria is just what Pat Moynahan used to call “boob bait for the Bubbas,” with the Bubbas in this case being the gullible nose-ringed undergrads and Chardonnay ladies that comprise the current Democrat constituency.

Or maybe it shows they’re growing resigned to the idea that Trump is going to be the next President so they’d better get over their hysterics and learn to work with him. That would be the healthiest thing for America, and a big relief to those who worry that a Trump win will result in a giant national temper tantrum of rioting.

RELATED: Poor Jim Gaffigan may have harmed his career in ultra-liberal show business by actually making jokes about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Of course, the mostly liberal crowd didn’t laugh: they have so little sense of humor, they think Stephen Colbert is a comedy genius. But you might appreciate some of his lines:

https://www.westernjournal.com/jim-gaffigan-humiliates-kamala-democratic-colleagues-reminds-harris-really-became-nominee/

This isn’t part of that article, but I liked this comment from Gaffigan as well:

"I'm sorry. Why is Vice President Harris not here? I mean, consider this. This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee. I mean, in her defense, I mean, she did find time to appear on ‘The View,’ Howard Stern, Colbert and the longtime staple of campaigning, the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast. You know what I think it is? I think she doesn't like me." 

Maybe he’s finally seeing the light. He should go on “Gutfeld,” where comics can actually say what they think, be funny without fear of humorous leftist scolds, and be seen by a much larger audience.