Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he will be the sole featured speaker at this year’s Al Smith Charity Dinner in New York, typically a good-humored and bipartisan political event hosted by the vice president. Kamala Harris He said that he is in favor of election campaign at the state level.
The former president and current Republican presidential nominee confirmed in a Truth Social post on Monday that he would speak at the Oct. 17 dinner, calling it “sad, but not surprising” that Harris has opted not to attend.
The event, which benefits Catholic Charities, has traditionally been used to promote collegiality, with presidential candidates from both parties attending on the same night and sniping at each other. But Harris’ campaign said Saturday that the Democratic nominee would not attend the event, breaking presidential tradition so she could campaign in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day.
One campaign official, who asked not to be named, said Harris’s team wants her to spend as much time as possible in battleground states that could decide the election, rather than staying in heavily Democratic New York. Her team told organizers she would be open to running for president if elected, the official said.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who played a key role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in 2018 titled, “Democrats have abandoned Catholics.” In his Truth Social post, Trump said Harris “certainly has not been very nice” to Catholics, adding that Catholic voters who supported her “should have their heads examined.”
Harris has been working for Harris-Walz to register Catholics to vote and is involved in outreach across the country, a campaign official said. Trump’s post stemmed partly from 2018 questions the then-senator asked him. Harris asked the federal judicial nominee about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization. Harris asked the nominee if he agreed with the anti-abortion views of the group’s leader, views that broadly align with the church’s stance.
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic 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 been a place where those vying to lead the country can get together for a night, or pretend to.
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 opponent Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton had vetoed a proposal to ban late-term abortions.
Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020 when it was moved online due to COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic crisis, there was no joking around, and both candidates used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.
Both Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton attended it in 2016. Trump was booed after calling Clinton corrupt and claiming she hated Catholics.