LARRY KUDLOW: Donald Trump looked like a winner by showing up at the Al Smith dinner

The Al Smith dinner was in New York City, but it was televised everywhere, and is probably going to be the last truly national event in the presidential campaign. 

Kamala Harris did not show up — and she lost. Donald Trump showed up — and he won. Some things are just that simple. 

Now, you would think it just cost her among Catholic voters, where she has already lost enormous ground, but frankly, her cringeworthy, bizarre, weird video — which so many people in the audience took as an insult and put-down to Catholics — cost her with not just Catholics but non-Catholics as well. 

It was in incredibly bad taste. Following her interview with Fox’s Bret Baier this week, along with last night's weird video, the Kamala Harris strategy pretty clearly is to avoid serious issues and instead just try to attack Donald Trump, and that's in bad taste.  

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Not to suggest that every joke Donald Trump made was worth repeating, but he did have a few that were genuinely funny zingers. Including one of my favorites — that Tim Walz wasn't there, but he'll tell people he was. Trump also got a big laugh when he said how wonderful it was to be in New York City voluntarily, without a subpoena, and then he said the dinner had to end soon — because the room was rented out to migrants later on. 

Good, clean fun, but Trump was relaxed. Clearly in a good space. He wasn't able to use a teleprompter, but read very well from his notes. Early the next morning, he looked equally relaxed and at ease, appearing on the popular show "FOX & Friends." 

Before the Al Smith dinner, he visited a barbershop in the Bronx and shared common experiences with that group. Finally, he took a bunch of questions on the tarmac as he flew out to Detroit for more campaigning. Kamala Harris' people are saying he's not appearing before the media. Really? That's nuts. He's everywhere, answering questions nonstop, showing his high-content message for the future of America.  

He's talking issues. He's talking the economy, border, crime, energy, inflation, Elon Musk and deregulation to shrink the government. He's talking tax cuts. He's talking tariffs to protect America from unfair trading practices by our competitors. Let's stop there, for a moment. 

The European Union’s tariffs are 50% higher than the United States. China’s tariffs are more than twice as high as ours. Brazil’s tariffs are three-and-a-half times as high. India’s tariffs are over five-times as high, and the great tariff policeman in the sky, the World Trade Organization, permits all these countries to get away with this. 

So, let me say: The time has long passed in American politics where the U.S. can just stand by and do nothing, while our foreign competitors and adversaries rip us off. 

A recent Bloomberg poll shows swing state voters support Trump's tariffs by a 24-point majority, and let me say that, actually, a tough tariff negotiator like Trump will lead to freer and fairer trade. That's reciprocity. You reduce your tariffs, and we'll reduce ours. Even though liberal economists don't understand this. 

Not only that — companies and investors all over the world will come here to avoid tariffs and take advantage of Trump's big tax cuts and his deregulation and his cheaper energy and his stable King Dollar. 

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Trump's trade strategy is not only to win the global war for business, but also to start up new job-creating factories. So, let me repeat: Reciprocity is the new free trade. Trump said it in Chicago, and he'll keep on saying it. 

No, he didn't talk about tariffs at the Al Smith dinner last night, but he did talk about God's Providence and divine mercy, that have miraculously kept him alive, and that's why he won the night, and the day after — looking and acting very much like a winner. That's the riff. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the Oct. 18, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."