Kamala Harris to skip Al Smith dinner, a traditional event for major presidential candidates

PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will skip this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, breaking with presidential tradition so she can campaign instead in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day.

The dinner benefitting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality and good humor, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs.

Harris’ team wants her to spend as much time as possible in the battleground states that will decide the election rather than heavily Democratic New York, a campaign official said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN. Her team told organizers that she would be willing to attend as president if she’s elected, the official said.

Donald Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a question about whether he would attend the dinner. His 2016 appearance at the dinner invited boos when many in the audience felt he crossed a line when he called Democrat Hillary Clinton corrupt and claimed she hated Catholics.

This year’s white-tie gala is scheduled for Oct. 17.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.”

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party in 1928. He was handily defeated by Herbert Hoover. It raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally shown that those vying to lead the nation can get along, or pretend to, for one night.

The event 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 challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.

Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020, when it was moved online due to concerns about large gatherings spreading COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic woes, there was no joking and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.

In 2016, Trump began innocently enough. He joked that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., used to love Trump when he was a Democrat. He poked fun at plagiarism involving the Clinton. But Trump’s remarks soon devolved into bitterness and insults.

Jonathan J. Cooper, The Associated Press