Trump Says Fox Helped Write His Jokes At Charity Dinner—Day After Bashing Network

Topline

Former President Donald Trump said Friday that “a couple people from Fox” helped write some of the jokes he told at Thursday’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York during an appearance on Fox & Friends that comes as he’s repeatedly bashed the network’s coverage of the presidential race.

Key Facts

Trump said “I’ve had a lot of people helping, a lot of people, a couple people from Fox—actually, I shouldn’t say that, but they wrote some jokes,” Trump said, adding, “for the most part, I didn’t like any of them.”

A day earlier, Trump both bashed and praised Fox on Truth Social, lauding host Bret Baier for doing “a great job” interviewing Vice President Kamala Harris in a segment that aired Wednesday, and questioning why CEO Suzanne Scott allows “Radical Left Lunatics” on the network “that lie, and make up statements.”

Trump also insulted Harris’ intelligence, telling the audience she “seems to have the mental faculties of a child.”

The former president took jabs at Harris during the Thursday night event in support of Catholic charities for children, telling the audience, “I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis,” Trump said, referring to the 2020 protests over George Floyd’s murder.

Tangent

Harris, who was campaigning at the time, instead participated in a pre-taped skit with comedian Molly Shannon that aired at the dinner. Shannon reprised her “Saturday Night Live” character as Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher, who told her not to “say anything negative about the Catholics.” Harris said “I would never do that . . . that would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit,” referencing Trump’s comments in Detroit last week where he called the city “a developing area more than China.”

Key Background

Trump’s interview with Fox comes after he reportedly canceled a string of planned interviews on CBS, CNBC and most recently NBC, an unnamed official told Politico. Both candidates have ramped up their media appearances in the final stretch of the campaign. “60 Minutes” aired an interview with Harris last week after Trump backed out of his planned sit-down on the program. He participated in town halls hosted by Univision and Fox News this week, in addition to a contentious interview with Bloomberg at the Economic Club of Chicago and several podcast interviews.

Further Reading

Trump Bashes Detroit While Speaking There (Forbes)

Trump Claims ‘A Lot Of People Didn’t Know’ Harris Is Black—Months After Questioning Her Race (Forbes)

Trump Doubles Down On False Pet-Eating Claims: Suggests Haitian Migrants Eat ‘Other Things Too’ (Forbes)