Trump barely gets through comedy routine at Catholic charity dinner

Donald Trump struggled to deliver a series of insults and jokes at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City on Thursday night.

The long-running event has traditionally been a venue for politicians of both parties to make lighthearted jabs while helping to bring in donations for Catholic charities. But Trump instead used the bulk of his time to repeat insults he has made on the campaign trail.

“Right now, we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have mental faculties of a child,” Trump said, haltingly reading his prepared statement. “But enough about Kamala Harris.”

Trump also decided to emphasize the middle name of former President Barack Obama, stressing “Hussein,” a tactic that was frequently used by those promoting the racist “birther” conspiracy theory. Trump was for years the most prominent birther in the country.