Melania and Donald Trump Have Opposite Reactions to Jim Gaffigan’s Bold Dinner Joke AboutAccess HollywoodTape

Mar. 15, 2025

Donald Trump and Melania Trump attend the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Oct. 17, 2024.Photo:Anthony Behar/AP

Anthony Behar/AP

Donald Trumpand his wife,Melania Trump, had very different reactions to a joke about the former president’sinfamousHollywood Accesstape.

During the high-profile Al Smith Dinner — an election year tradition in New York City to raise money for Catholic charities and roast political candidates — comedian and dinner hostJim Gaffiganbegan cracking jokes about Donald, 78, as the former president and Melania, 54, sat just feet away.

“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.”

Comedian Jim Gaffigan speaks at the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Oct. 17, 2024.Michael M. Santiago/Getty

Michael M. Santiago/Getty

According to Newsweek, Donald was smiling through the joke, while Melania remained “stone-faced.” Some audience members laughed and groaned, while others stayed silent.

Mary Callahan Erdoes, vice chair of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation board, was then heard telling Gaffigan, “We talked about leaving that out.”

Gaffigan responded to her affirmatively, saying, “I was gonna leave that out.”

Melania Trump whispers something to husband Donald Trump at the 2024 Al Smith Dinner on Oct. 17.Michael M. Santiago/Getty

In the 2005 tape that Gaffigan referenced, Donald was heard on a hot microphone speaking withAccess Hollywood’s Billy Bush about groping and trying to have sex with women.

At one point, the real estate mogul notoriously said, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful… I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”

Additionally, during the recentpresidential debateagainst Vice PresidentKamala Harrisin September, Donald brought up the far-right conspiracy theory regarding Haitian migrants “eating pets," which received mass criticism ahead of the debate.

“In Springfield, [Ohio,] they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people who live there, and this is what’s happening in our country,” Donald falsely claimed of Haitian people who have moved there.

Donald and Melania Trump speak to press after voting in the 2024 Republican presidential primary in Palm Beach, Fla.GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty

GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty

This isn’t the first time Melania has had a less-than-enthusiastic reaction to buzz about Donald’s sex-related scandals. A source previously told PEOPLE in March 2023 that the former model was completely uninterested in talking about the alleged hush money payment Donald made to adult film starStormy Danielsin 2016.

Daniels previously alleged that herrumored extramarital affairwith Donald took place less than four months after Melania gave birth to the couple’s son,Barron, in 2006.

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“She remains angry and doesn’t want to hear [the alleged hush money payment] mentioned,” the source added. “She is aware of who her husband is and keeps her life upbeat with her own family and a few close friends.”

source: people.com