Amid executives, journalists and current and former political allies and adversaries, former President Donald Trump used the podium at the 79th Al Smith dinner on Oct. 17 to highlight Vice President Kamala Harris’ “deeply disrespectful” decision to skip the event in address filled with personal attacks and barbs, in which he also vied for the Catholic vote.
Harris, meanwhile, in a video address to the attendees, revived a decades old comedy film in a skit before speaking on the good work and sense of hope the Church provides, and the need to “recommit to reaching across divides, to seek understanding and common ground.”
Harris was the first presidential candidate to decline an invitation to the dinner since Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984. Her campaign said that she declined the invitation to instead campaign in battleground states. Regardless, her absence was the talk of the night.
“It’s been a long tradition for both Democrat and Republican candidates to attend this dinner, always. It’s a rule … otherwise bad things are going to happen to you from up there,” Trump said, pointing to heaven. “You can’t do what I just saw on the screen, but my opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event and in particular to our great Catholic community.”
The comment came near the top of Trump’s address. He then dug back in on Harris’s decision minutes later, this time using it as a reason to tell Catholics to vote for him on election day, and as a lead in to jokes about Kamala Harris’s tendency to laugh, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s recent use of a Dorito chip to mock communion. He also joked that “if the Democrats really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening, they would have just sent Joe Biden.”
“You got to get out and vote. Catholics, you got to vote for me. You better remember, I’m here and she’s not. I could have done that, too, but you do something that’s incredible,” Trump said. “The Catholic Church, helping the poor, educating children and supporting the vulnerable.”
Established in 1946 and formally known as the Alfred Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, the event honors the memory of the former four-term governor of New York who was a Democrat and the first Catholic to be nominated by a major party in 1928, though he was defeated by Herbert Hoover.
Hosted by the Archdiocese of New York, the annual event raises millions of dollars for Catholic Charities and is historically an evening for the candidates to put politics aside and come together in a more lighthearted manner for a good cause.
Although the final tally isn’t out yet, Mary Callahan Erdoes, the vice chair of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Board of Directors, said that they were “only a couple checks away from hitting $10 million,” which would make it the largest Catholic fundraiser in the United States.
Catholic leaders on the dais of the event included Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York; Bishop Paul Patrick Chomnycky of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, Connecticut; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn; and Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York hosted the event and provided opening and closing prayers.
Notable current politicians in attendance included New York Governor Kathy Hochul, United States Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Erdoes, in opening remarks, didn’t shy away from the pro-Trump leaning of many attendees.
“What is also special is that this is the third time the 45th president of the United States has been at the Al Smith dinner, and they say that the third time’s a charm, and so we’re hoping is a charm, and so we’re hoping it’s a charm,” Erdoes said. “We’re really hoping for that. You never disappoint. Your wit is absolutely fabulous, and of us together are going to hope for the best.”
Her remarks were followed by dinner. About an hour later, comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan, the night’s emcee, took the podium to deliver remarks. And while Gaffigan got in his jokes about Trump, he too spoke multiple times on Harris’ decision to skip the event.
“I’m sorry, why is Vice President Harris not here? I mean, consider this, this is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee. I mean, in her defense, she did find time to appear on the View, Howard Stern, Colbert, and the longtime staple of campaigning, the Call Her Daddy podcast,” Gaffigan joked. “You know what I think it is? I think she doesn’t like me.”
The comedian also jabbed at how she became the Democratic nominee.
“This has been an interesting presidential campaign. The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned about this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent and installed Kamala Harris,” Gaffigan said.
For Trump, Gaffigan noted the former president’s use of the rumor that migrants were eating cats to make a point in the first debate, then joking “if you’re keeping track at home, this is the second time grabbing a kitty has been part of a campaign issue.”
Gaffigan then closed by telling Trump, seated down the row to his left side, that “if you are reelected, I always liked you, and I’m not saying that because I don’t want to be sent to a labor camp.”
Gaffigan made other jokes about money and power on the dais, and about the media. He also saved a few jokes for Dolan, jokingly highlighting Pope Francis’s recent “lesser of two evils” comment and asking him to answer which candidate fits that description.
Some time in the middle of Gaffigan’s remarks Harris’s video message was played. The vice president started off with a skit homage to the 1999 comedy film Superstar. She didn’t name Trump, but did get in a few jokes pointed in his direction, including about him denying the 2020 election results.
Her tone then turned serious, and she commented on the “tremendous work” of the Catholic Church, and the need for bipartisanship and coming together as a nation.
“The Church cares for the sick and feeds the hungry, supports families with housing and education, and in times of disaster, provides not only essential supplies, but also, and so importantly, a sense of hope,” Harris said, adding that “In the spirit of tonight’s dinner, let us recommit to reaching across divides, to seek understanding and common ground, and in honor of the great Al Smith, let us fight to build a better future with faith in God, our country, and in each other.”
Following Gaffigan, Trump’s address closed the evening.
At some points the former president pulled no punches – he joked about the second gentleman’s extramarital affair during his previous marriage, and the mental fitness of both Harris and Biden. He also joked about Adam’s current legal woes, saying that he thinks Adam’s will win, and insinuating that it’s happening because he spoke unfavorably about the Biden administration.
“Mayor, you’re peanuts compared to what they’ve done to me, and you’re going to be OK,” Trump said.
Jokes aside, Trump took a more serious tone towards the end of the address to highlight issues facing the nation and the world, and his commitment to working across the aisle to bring prosperity to both New York and the United States. He also spoke a bit about faith as the reason he made it to the event, alluding to the recent assassination attempts against him.
“Cardinal, I have a very fresh appreciation for how blessed we are by God’s presence and his divine mercy,” Trump said. “I was not supposed to be here tonight, that I can tell you. So with God’s help, I know there is nothing that cannot be achieved. We can achieve so much good in this country and get together and unify.”
