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Kamala Harris Booed for Skipping Out on Al Smith Dinner

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 18, 2024 8:30 AM

Former and potentially future President Donald Trump was present at the Al Smith dinner in New York City on Thursday night, though for the first time in 1984, the event was lacking one of the nominees from the two major parties. Democrats and Republicans alike were present for the event meant to bring people together during the contentious election, as well as raise money for Catholic Charities. While Trump knocked it out of the park, as Matt covered not long after the event, Vice President Kamala Harris couldn't be bothered to be present. It did not go unnoticed, as those in attendance could be heard booing when her name came up.

As Harris' campaign had indicated weeks before, she was busy campaigning in battleground states, specifically Wisconsin. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, who hosts the event, has stressed multiple times how "disappointed" he was by Harris' absence. Dolan also stressed the sense of unity the event is meant to convey, something he has reminded Harris says she supports.

Harris' absence was sorely felt. Sure enough, when Mary Callahan Erdoe, the vice chair of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, referenced Harris, boos could be heard from the crowd. 

"We are so thrilled to have everybody here," Erdoe pointed out, which notably did not include the vice president, "and while we're very sorry that Vice President Harris cannot make it here in person, we will be joined," she tried to continue, though she was cut off by boos. She went on to share that "we will be joined by her later, via video."

Erdoe also mentioned Trump, which received quite the reaction as well. "But we couldn't be more thrilled to be joined, of course, by the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump," she continued. This time, it was the applause that made Erdoe pause. She also went on to share how much she appreciated former First Lady Melania Trump and her "making a very special effort to be here."

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Jim Gaffigan, the master of ceremonies of the event, referenced Harris' absence in his remarks. As he reminded, "Catholics will be a key demographic in every battleground state. I'm sorry, w-why is Vice President Harris not here?" The audience applauded such a question. 

Gaiffgan then went on to remind how she did, however, have time to appear for friendly interviews, such as with "The View," Howard Stern, Stephen Colbert, and the "Call Her Daddy" sex podcast.

When it comes to that video message that Erdoe referenced, it was a clip of the vice president being joined by Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher, a "Saturday Night Live" character from 1995-2001. 

It was particularly painful to watch, and not merely because Mary Katherine is such a dated character, who decided to throw in some more recent references, like the lyrics to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off." It just came off as out of place and cringeworthy. 

Once the character was sent on her way by a staffer, Harris delivered a message that was as phony as it was mercifully brief. She spoke for a matter of moments, while Trump's full remarks were close to half an hour long.

When speaking with Shannon's character, Harris had also claimed earlier that the Al Smith dinner was something she claimed she was "so proud to be a part of," though it was actually something she was not part of, given that she wasn't even there. Harris also claimed she "would never [say anything negative about Catholics], no matter where I was," and then took the opportunity to make a particularly unfunny joke about Trump and Detroit. 

When the video concluded, there was applause and cheers from the audience, but also the reaction was mixed, as addressed by Gaffigan. "I don't even know what that noise that you're making is," Gaffigan said, as he mimicked the sounds. "I don't know, as I watched that, I couldn't help but think now I know how my kids felt when I FaceTimed into a piano recital that they were at."

As we mentioned in Thursday night's coverage ahead of the event, Harris' campaign had released a statement not only with the audacity to address her in-person absence, but to share that she hoped to attend as president. 

From Fox News' reporting:

The campaign previously told Fox News that the vice president would not physically attend the event, focusing her time on campaigning in the battleground state of Wisconsin instead. 

"The Vice President is going to be campaigning in a battleground state that day, and the campaign wants to maximize her time in the battlegrounds this close to the election. Her team also told the organizers that she would very much like to attend their event as President. This would make her one of the first sitting Presidents to attend," the campaign said. 

Hopefully Harris considers it worthwhile to have missed the event. As of early Friday morning, though, RealClearPolling shows Trump with an edge of +0.1 in Wisconsin. 

A poll released earlier this week from the National Catholic Reporter shows that Trump is leading with likely voters who are Catholics in battleground states, 50-45 percent. The state where Trump has a particularly big lead? In Wisconsin, where he leads by +18 among Catholics.