On Monday, Trump said he would speak at the charity event. Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan noted Kamala Harris’s decision not to attend the historic Al Smith dinner was a “disappointment,” saying, “We don’t know how to handle it” because no presidential contender had declined the offer in the last forty years.
“We’re disappointed,” Dolan said at a news conference Monday at the Yonkers Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center. We were happy to welcome the vice president with open arms and never thought that she’d object to this. You know, she speaks regularly of high principles and of the need to put aside petty differences and come together as one. It’s a fact.”
We are not used to that. We’re not quite sure how to handle that,” he said. It hasn’t happened in forty years, when Walter Mondale rejected it. Remember that he lost 49 states out of 50. We’re not conceding, even if I am loath to say there’s any direct correlation there.”
On October 17, Dolan will host the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. The event usually occurs in New York City, for the benefit of Catholic Charities.
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The event usually consists of a dinner where the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are guests of honor, often exchanging good-natured roasts with one another. It began in 1960, where then-Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon gave speeches at the dinner.
Harris’ campaign let the organizers know Harris wouldn’t participate in the audience, to which Dolan referred.
On Monday, the former president of the United States of America made sure to say that he still would go and speak at the dinner, saying it was “sad, but not surprising” to see Harris attending the charity dinner.
According to Dolan, the last time a Democratic contender chose to boycott the event while a Republican nominee did it, was when President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech in 1984 without Walter Mondale.
The Democratic Contender Joe Biden and the then-President Trump both appeared at the event in 2020. In spite of how close the contest was, none of these candidates made personal attacks on the other.
Dolan added he was hoping Harris would reconsider, citing Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who are “working hard” to “convince her to come.”
We are not giving up, Dolan said. “We hope she’s here.”
