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Trump asked “Gutfeld!” comedian Nick Di Paolo for the Al Smith Dinner help, but he didn't like his jokes


Trump asked “Gutfeld!” comedian Nick Di Paolo for the Al Smith Dinner help, but he didn't like his jokes

Donald Trump said he relied on Fox News to put together 10 minutes of jokes for a charity dinner this week.

But while rumors circulated on social media that the jokes may have been written by the network's news and opinion anchors, Semafor has learned that Trump was referring to Nick Di Paolo, the right-wing radio host and comedian who joined Fox host Greg Gutfeld appeared on the late night show and contributed jokes.

During an interview with Fox & Friends on Friday, the Republican presidential candidate said he had asked a number of people close to him for help writing material, including some Fox News employees.

“I had a lot of people help me, a lot of people, a few people from Fox – I shouldn't say this, but they wrote a few jokes,” Trump said. “I didn’t like most of them.”

While Di Paolo has worked with Fox host Gutfeld and written jokes for his show, the comedian is considered an occasional salesman at Fox and is not an employee of the network.

“Fox News has confirmed that no employee or freelancer wrote the jokes,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement shared with Semafor.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign declined to comment. A representative for Di Paolo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Di Paolo, who described his free 2019 comedy special on YouTube as “too “dangerous” for Netflix and too “honest” for Comedy Central, is a former writer for Chris Rock's Show and occasional television actor who appeared in various shows in the 2000s performed including The Sopranos and Lucky Louie.

“In this day and age of watered-down comedy, Nick Di Paolo's brutally honest performances remind us of what great stand-up should be – funny, socially relevant and a little ruthless,” Di Paolo described himself on his website.

According to a person familiar with Trump's performance, Di Paolo contributed a joke that the former president used that evening. It's not entirely uncommon for presidents to resort to night staff to crack jokes at high-profile events. While in office, former President Barack Obama sought help from Daily Show writers for his White House Correspondents' Dinner.

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