New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for snubbing the Al Smith charity dinner hosted by the archdiocese, pointing out that the last presidential candidate to skip the event “lost 49 out of 50 states.” Kamala Harris will become the first Democratic nominee since 1984 not to attend the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a Catholic charity event historically attended by presidential candidates from both parties to help disadvantaged children.
This hasn’t happened in 40 years since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation,” Cardinal Dolan noted Monday. Remember, he lost 49 out of 50 states.” The cardinal added, “I don’t want to say there’s a direct connection there,” provoking a burst of laughter from those present.
President Trump has confirmed his presence at the 79th session of the annual dinner on October 17, whereas Vice President Harris’ team said she will skip the dinner to campaign in key battleground states. We’re disappointed. We were looking forward to giving the Vice President an enthusiastic welcome,” the cardinal said in remarks delivered at the Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center in Yonkers, New York.
Harris speaks very much about the high ideals and how it’s good to get away from division and come together in unity and all, and that’s what the Al Smith Dinner is all about,” the cardinal said. We haven’t given up yet,” he added. We’re not used to this. We don’t know how to handle it.
This tradition of presidential candidates attending the event dates back to the 1960 presidential election, when John F. Kennedy, the country’s first Catholic president, and Richard Nixon both attended. On Monday, Donald Trump confirmed his intention to attend the dinner for a third consecutive presidential election year, saying it will be an “honor to attend.
It’s sad, but not surprising, that Kamala has decided not to attend,” Trump wrote. I don’t know what she has against our Catholic friends, but it must be a lot, because she certainly hasn’t been very nice to them,” he added since “Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Administration.
Commenting on Harris’ decision to take a pass on the dinner, Brian Browne, spokesman for St. John’s University-NY, lamented what he called a “missed opportunity.” “It’s a missed opportunity to demonstrate a human side and come together for a charitable cause, and you know, if I was advising her, I would tell her to reconsider this,” Browne said, noting that the dinner is made complete by the presence of both major party candidates.