Tipsheet

Here's What Harris Was Too Busy Doing to Attend the Al Smith Dinner

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 18, 2024 11:15 AM

As Townhall has been covering, Vice President Kamala Harris skipped out on the Al Smith dinner event benefiting Catholic Charities on Thursday night to instead campaign in Wisconsin, a key battleground state. During the event, she took to her favorite talking points, harping on January 6. In doing so, and while attacking former and potentially future President Donald Trump, she ended up lying about the day in question.

Harris' remarks were a trending topic over X for Thursday night, especially when it comes to January 6, as she claimed, "140 law enforcement officers were injured that day, law enforcement officers were killed that day."

Not only were there no officers "killed" on January 6, but the January 7 death of Officer Brian Sicknick was the result of natural causes after he had suffered two strokes.  

One person did die on that day at the Capitol, Ashli Babbitt, when she was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd. The family's $30 million wrongful death suit will go to trial on July 20, 2026. 

In sharing a clip of Harris' remarks, liberal journalist Aaron Rupar quoted the Democratic nominee, but conveniently did not quote her part about the LEOs she claimed "were killed." 

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Ironically, Harris spoke about being "exhausted with [Trump's] gaslighting," declaring, "We are ready to turn the page, we're done." For all this talk of being "ready to turn the page," it's worth reminding that Harris is the sitting vice president and Trump hasn't even been in office for over three and a half years.

The Kamala HQ and Kamala Harris X accounts have also shared clips of Harris' remarks full of lies to actually promote them. 

Harris and her fellow Democrats have been looking to hit Trump for January 6 lately, especially his recent remarks at a Univision town hall. Trump continues to remind that he stressed on that day for people to make their voices heard "peacefully," though Democrats like to leave that part out. 

While Trump's speech from Thursday night at the Al Smith dinner was well received, Harris' absence was booed, and the reactions to the video message she sent in were mixed at best.

Despite her absence, Harris' video message still claimed she was "so proud to be a part of" such an event, and the Kamala Harris and Kamala HQ also put out clips mocking Trump for his appearance. The Harris campaign also sent out a statement after the dinner to condemn Trump with an inaccurate description of the event she didn't even attend, as another of way of missing the purpose of the Al Smith dinner to promote unity and benefit Catholic Charities.