Kamala Harris will stay away from historic Al Smith Dinner in New York before election, campaign official says

CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris will not attend the Al Smith charity dinner in New York City next month, her campaign told organizers. Instead, she will campaign in a swing state on Oct. 17, less than three weeks before the election.

The historic Catholic fundraiser traditionally features light attacks on the two major party candidates in presidential election years — both against each other and against others. This fall's event is already sold out and is expected to welcome 1,500 guests to a gala ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.

Donald Trump stunned attendees in 2016 when he abandoned collegial exchanges and launched a series of personal attacks on Hillary Clinton, who had offered the expected round of self-deprecating humor in her own remarks. The event — black tie for attendees, white tie for the main attractions — is named after the first Catholic presidential candidate of a major party, four-term New York governor Al Smith, the Democratic standard-bearer in 1928.

Smith lost to Republican Herbert Hoover, and it would be more than three decades before another Catholic candidate, Democrat John F. Kennedy, was nominated by a major party – enabling him to enter the White House in 1960.

Eight years ago, Trump ambushed Clinton while New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan sat next to him, calling her a liar and mocking her for hacked emails.

As the crowd booed, Trump went even further, saying, “I don't know who they're mad at, Hillary, you or me. For example, she stands here in public tonight and pretends she doesn't hate Catholics.”

By skipping the dinner, Harris would likely avoid appearing alongside Dolan, who has previously been criticized by Democrats for his friendly relationship with Trump. (He said the prayer at Trump's 2017 inauguration.)

In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, both Trump and Joe Biden held a virtual version of the ceremony, but with a more serious tone. Both appealed to Catholic voters but refrained from jokes and jibes. Biden was elected the following month as the country's second Catholic president.

Neither Harris nor Trump had officially confirmed their attendance this year, but according to comedian and host Jim Gaffigan, both were expected.

In response to Trump's announcement that he would not debate Harris again, Gaffigan promoted the dinner on social media on September 12.

“I guess the next and last time we see these two children together will be at the 79th Al Smith Memorial Dinner on October 17,” Gaffigan wrote of Trump and Harris.

It was not to be. Harris, however, told dinner organizers that she hoped to attend the event in future years — as president, a campaign official said.

Harris announced Saturday that she had accepted an invitation from CNN to debate Trump on Oct. 23, less than a week after the dinner, challenging the former president to another exciting one-on-one duel less than two weeks before Election Day.

“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share the stage with Donald Trump,” campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement. “Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate.”

Trump, who had previously indicated a certain openness to a second debate with Harris, argued on Saturday that it was “too late” for another confrontation between the presidents.

“The problem with another debate is that it's just too late, the voting has already started,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.