Harris to skip, Trump to attend annual Al Smith dinner

Vice President Harris will not attend the annual Al Smith dinner in New York next month, while former President Trump said on Monday that he will be there.

The New York Catholic Charities fundraiser, which is scheduled for Oct. 17, traditionally includes presidential candidates. Trump attended in 2016, along with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and Trump and President Biden joined the dinner virtually in 2020.

Harris’s team told event organizers that she will be campaigning in a battleground state on the day of the dinner and is unable to attend, a campaign official told The Hill. She “wants to maximize her time in the battlegrounds this close to the election,” but her team told organizers that she would like to attend the event as president, if elected.

Trump said on Truth Social “it will be an honor to attend” the dinner in New York.

“It was a virtual event in 2020, and I was delighted to speak to our Catholic friends that day and, of course, it was a HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL evening in 2016 when we were there in person with Crooked Hillary Clinton,” he said.

The event is the 79th Dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation and is hosted by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Trump, on social media on Monday, also called out Harris for not agreeing to attend the traditional dinner.

“It’s sad, but not surprising, that Kamala has decided not to attend. 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, in fact, Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Administration. Any Catholic that votes for Comrade Kamala Harris should have their head examined,” Trump said.

President Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history, following President John F. Kennedy.

The Harris campaign held a a Catholics for Harris-Walz National Organizing Call last week, which included former Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who was ambassador to the Holy See, among others.