Harris Will Skip Famous Al Smith Charity Dinner, Home to Presidential Roasts

Vice President Harris will not attend next month’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, a tradition in modern presidential politics going back decades. The event typically brings in millions of dollars that are later dispersed to charitable organizations, and has featured the major party presidential nominees roasting each other.Ms. Harris’s campaign said on Saturday that the vice president would skip the event, which always draws some of the biggest names in politics, the media, and entertainment. It marks the first time since 1984 — when Vice President Mondale did not attend — that a major party’s presidential nominee is not appearing at the charity dinner. The dinner began hosting presidential candidates in 1960, when President Kennedy was vying to be the first Catholic president. The dinner is held annually, and last year brought in $4.3 million for charitable causes. It is especially important during presidential election years, because both major party nominees come to deliver short speeches and light roasts of each other. Because of the Covid pandemic in 2020, the Al Smith Dinner has not featured such a presidential roast in person since 2016, when Secretary Clinton and President Trump appeared together to make lighthearted jokes. One of the funnier moments of the night was when Trump recounted jokingly that Mrs. Clinton had bumped into him earlier at the event and said, “pardon me,” which drew an enthusiastic laugh from the former secretary of state. A spokesman for Ms. Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why she would not attend the dinner. Four years ago, Presidents Biden and Trump appeared virtually for the event due to the pandemic. Given the emotional weight of that year for many, Mr. Biden delivered a four-minute virtual address that featured no jokes about his opponent. Trump, similarly, spoke to the event from the White House in a pre-recorded statement, and he also made no jokes about Mr. Biden. The dinner is named for a former New York governor, Al Smith, who was the first Catholic presidential nominee of a major party back in 1928, when he lost to President Hoover. The dinner is typically led by the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and the late governor’s grandson, Alfred Smith IV, though he passed away in 2019. The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dispenses millions of dollars every year to charitable causes, from hospitals to schools to summer programs for children. The event has sometimes been tense for the Catholic leadership and Democratic nominees given the party’s support for abortion rights. When he appeared at the 1980 Al Smith dinner with President Reagan, President Carter was booed by attendees

Harris Will Skip Famous Al Smith Charity Dinner, Home to Presidential Roasts

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