Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he would be the sole speaker at this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, typically a good-natured and bipartisan political event that Vice President Kamala Harris said she is skipping the elections and is committed to a battlefield campaign.
The former president and current Republican presidential candidate confirmed in a post on Truth Social on Monday that he would speak at the Oct. 17 dinner, calling it “sad, but not surprising” that Harris chose not to attend.
The gala benefiting Catholic Charities is traditionally used to promote collegiality, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and offering answers to each other. But on Saturday, Harris’ campaign said the Democratic nominee would not attend the event, break with presidential tradition so she could instead campaign in a state where the election was still uncertain, less than three weeks before Election Day.
Harris’ team wants them to spend as much time as possible in the battlefield states that will decide the election instead of heavily Democratic New York, said a campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN. Her team told organizers she would be willing to attend as president if elected, the official said.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who plays a prominent role at the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal headlined, “Democrats Abandon Catholics.” In his Truth Social post, Trump said that Harris “certainly hasn’t been very nice” to Catholics and that Catholic voters who support her “need to get their heads checked.”
A Harris campaign official said Catholics for Harris-Walz is working to register people to vote and get involved in outreach across the country. Trump’s message comes in part from Questions 2018 that then-Senator Harris confronted a federal judicial candidate about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization. Harris asked the candidate whether he agreed with the group’s leader’s anti-abortion views, views that largely align with the church’s position.
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former governor of New York, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party. He was easily defeated by Herbert Hoover in 1928. The dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally demonstrated that those vying to lead the country can get along, or pretend to, for one night.
It has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a ban on late-term abortions.
Trump and Joe Bidenwho are Catholic, both spoke at the 2020 fundraiser when it was moved online due to COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic hardship, there were no jokes, and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.
Both Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton attended in 2016. Trump was booed after calling Clinton corrupt and claiming she hated Catholics.
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Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP