On Thursday night, former and potentially future President Donald Trump will be attending the Al Smith dinner in New York City, an event to benefit Catholic Charities. It's also supposed to symbolize unity and coming together together. Vice President Kamala Harris made the decision weeks ago to not attend, which came as a disappointment to Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.
In his podcast from Tuesday, Dolan confirmed that "this year will be unbalanced because sadly Kamala Harris isn't coming." Just as he did weeks ago when reacting to the vice president's snub, he continued to lament that her absence is "a shame, because the nature of the evening is to bring people together, the nature of the evening is civility, patriotism, humor."
Dolan stressed "it's not a campaign speech, it's not a campaign stop, it's not a roast," though there is "big time teasing." Campaigning is what Harris will be doing instead, though.
Speaking further about this "grand evening" and how there's "a lot of laughs," Dolan also reminded that it doesn't even have to do solely with politics. "It's really not all--a lot of people think it's a Catholic campaign stop, not really," he explained. Dolan also offered how "the evening is reflective of New York demographics," in addition to how there's involvement from the archdiocese. "It's not kind of a Catholic campaign speech, there's all religions... this is not a red or blue event, this is red, white, and blue."
Dolan again made clear that "we're upset that she didn't come," speaking about Harris. "We missed an evening to accent something sorely needed now that even [Harris] articulates rather eloquently, that we've got to turn the page on bitterness, and the Al Smith dinner traditionally tries to do that."
Harris' absence causing this year to be "unbalanced" comes even as Dolan noted, "it's not a Republican crowd, it's not a Democratic crowd, it's kind of evenly split," with the event raising money for good causes.
Today on Conversation with Cardinal Dolan, I’m joined by @KatiePMcGrady! We talk about the new hot dogs at the @yankeestadium, the Columbus Day Mass, and the Al Smith Dinner. https://t.co/1WuzxEPKtD
— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) October 15, 2024
Dolan had expressed he was "disappointed" last month as well, when he pointed out that the last nominee to turn down such an event, also the Democratic nominee, was Walter Mondale, who was running against President Ronald Reagan in 1984. "This hasn't happened in 40 years since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation, and remember he lost 49 out of 50 states," Dolan reminded, though he also made clear "I don't want to say there's a direct connection there."
While this race is looking to be much closer than 1984, RealClearPolitics does show Trump winning with 312 electoral votes to Harris' 226 votes.
Fox News also reported that Harris will be virtually appearing via a prerecorded message.
Such a report also mentions a previous statement from the campaign that Harris hopes to attend if elected president:
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.
When it comes to Harris' chances in Wisconsin, RCP now shows that Trump has an edge there of +0.1, though that does not yet take into account how even a Morning Consult poll shows Trump with an edge there over Harris, 48-47 percent.
In addition to her failure to show up for Thursday's event, Harris has also snubbed Catholics before with her policy positions and objections to judicial nominees.
As we covered last month:
It's not merely that Harris is abandoning tradition by declining to participate in a Catholic Charities event that celebrates the first Catholic nominee for president, when Al Smith ran as a Democrat in 1928. The event has been a tradition for presidential nominees since 1960.
Harris is part of the particularly pro-abortion Biden-Harris administration, and Harris herself has targeted Catholics, as Trump reminded in his posts.
...
The Little Sisters of the Poor were targeted by the Obama-Biden administration, forcing them to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court because they wouldn't provide or refer for contraception under ObamaCare. While campaigning in 2020, Biden also promised to continue going after them.
The nuns have been facing court battles for over a decade now. Harris' state of California was also among those suing to force the contraceptive mandate. Meanwhile, the Trump administration sought to protect their religious freedom.
As a senator, Harris went after Catholic judicial nominees nominated by Trump due to their affiliation with the Knights of Columbus, and was particularly antagonistic towards Catholic nominees. Now, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are also both Catholic.
The MAGA Inc. PAC sent out an email reminder on Thursday ahead of the event as well, noting "Catholic Support for President Trump SURGES as Kamala Harris Skips Al Smith Charity Dinner."
As the email mentioned:
For the first time since 1984, a presidential candidate has declined the annual Al Smith Charity Dinner. Why? Her radical policies are fundamentally at odds with Catholic teachings, and her history of anti-Catholic rhetoric has further alienated this crucial voting bloc.
She is SO radical and her Catholic hate permeates SO much of her campaign, that recent polling reveals that 50 percent of Catholics in battleground states support President Trump.
By not attending the annual Al Smith Charity Dinner, she’s sending a powerful message to Catholics: That they aren’t welcome in her coalition. The dinner, a long-standing tradition benefiting Catholic Charities, has seen every presidential candidate accept the invitation—until now.
Harris' anti-Catholic record is discussed as well:
Kamala Harris Boycott’s Catholic Charity Dinner, Continuing Her Anti-Catholic Campaign: Harris’s record speaks for itself. She has repeatedly targeted Catholic institutions and individuals with policies and rhetoric that stand in direct contrast to Catholics' core beliefs.
Additionally, she:
- Kamala Harris has repeatedly attacked the Knights of Columbus, the largest Catholic fraternal organization with over 2 million members and $1.5 billion raised for charity in the past decade.
- She led a bigoted campaign against Brian Buescher's nomination to the U.S. District Court for Nebraska, citing his faith as a Catholic as a disqualifying factor in her eyes.
- She sponsored legislation aimed at shutting down charitable Catholic organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor for refusing to conform to radical leftist beliefs on gender identity.
- Harris supported the Equality Act, which would force religious institutions, including churches, to compromise their core beliefs or lose their religious rights.
- As California attorney general, she got a law passed requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to "promote abortion,"—many of which are Catholic or Christian—undermining their faith-based mission.
- In 2015, Kamala Harris used her power as California attorney general to put six Catholic hospitals out of business.
The email closed with a reminder of Trump's support for Catholics. "Harris' absence from the Al Smith Dinner and abandonment of Catholic families will result in Catholics abandoning her on November 5th. President Donald Trump has and will continue to listen to and fight for ALL Americans; that's the difference. President Trump's mission is to protect the freedom of every individual to practice their faith," the "BOTTOM LINE" noted. "Under President Trump’s leadership, our nation saw remarkable support for religious freedom, restored protections for faith-based organizations and strengthened the rights of religious institutions against government overreach."
Kamala Harris is the FIRST presidential candidate since 1984 to SKIP the annual Al Smith dinner benefiting Catholic charities.
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) October 17, 2024
LET THAT SINK IN. pic.twitter.com/smjuw2MdQ9
While her campaign said she'd like to attend the event as president, Catholics may not be too willing to help elect Harris, though. The email mentioned a poll from the National Catholic Reporter of Catholics in battleground states supporting Trump over Harris by 50-45 percent.
Perhaps the most crucial part is that Trump has such a wide lead in Wisconsin, where Harris is campaigning instead. As coverage from The Hill mentioned:
Trump had a notably wide lead in Wisconsin, where he polled ahead of Harris among Catholics by 18 points, and Michigan, where he edged out the vice president by 12 points.
...
The NCR poll was conducted Oct. 3-8 and included 1,172 Catholic voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It has a margin of error is 2.86 percentage points.
The Trump War Room account has also been lambasting Harris on Thursday ahead of the dinner, especially as her campaign tries to criticize Trump for events he's not participated in. That Harris is skipping the dinner is also a trending topic over X for Thursday.
Tonight, Kamala will become the first presidential candidate since Walter Mondale to not attend the Al Smith Dinner.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 17, 2024
Why is she dodging it?
Because she's not funny, hates Catholics, and is too afraid of being roasted by President Trump to her face.pic.twitter.com/o8Gralg2w8
Tonight, Kamala Harris will become the SECOND EVER major party candidate to boycott the Al Smith dinner benefitting Catholic Charities.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 17, 2024
She’s THAT terrified to speak without her teleprompter. pic.twitter.com/NSOMP1xZt3
Kamala Harris:
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 17, 2024
❌ Rejected a debate on Fox News
❌ Rejected an interview with CNBC
❌ Rejected an interview with TIME magazine
❌ Is skipping the Al Smith dinner tonight, the first presidential candidate to do so since Mondale
❌ Still has never done a press conference since… https://t.co/uV5FjhLuNR
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