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Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is skipping an event that has been a tradition for major presidential candidates to attend for nearly a century.
On October 17th, Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, commonly known as the Al Smith Dinner, will take place in New York, which benefits Catholic Charities. For nearly 100 years, the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have been invited to the dinners where they usually give lighthearted speeches while still pointing out the differences between themselves and their opponents.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan is hosting the event this year - who is no fan of Donald Trump - and he posted an invitation to the event for both Harris and Trump on September 6th.
"I’m so honored to be MC-ing this year’s Al Smith Memorial Dinner on October 1," Gaffigan wrote, then joked of Trump and Harris, "Too bad I don’t recognize those two names in the middle of the invitation. Anyone ever heard of them?”
Yet, Harris's campaign says she won't attend.
Trump says he will be there.
Organizers expect about 1,500 guests.
The last major party presidential candidate to turn down an invitation to the Al Smith Dinner was Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984.
Four decades later, Harris is following in her fellow Democrat's footsteps.
The dinner would be an opportunity for Trump and Harris to interface to a degree, but, again, she's declined.
The dinner is named for former New York Governor Al Smith who was also the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1928 election, where he was soundly defeated by Republican Herbert Hoover.
In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York did not invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, because of Clinton’s veto of a late-term abortion ban.
Other than that, both major party presidential candidates have always been invited since John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon appeared together in 1960. Except for Mondale, these candidates have always expected their invitations and have attended.
New York Archdiocese spokesperson Joseph Zwilling told the New York Post that he hoped Harris would change her mind.
“We are disappointed that she will not be with us, as this is an evening of unity and putting aside political differences in support of a good cause of helping women and children in need regardless of race, creed, or background,” Zwilling said. “We hope she reconsiders.”
When both Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton both appeared at the dinner in 2016, Trump roasted her by saying, “One of the things I noticed tonight — and I’ve known Hillary for a long time — that this is the first time ever, ever, that Hillary is sitting down and speaking to major corporate leaders and not getting paid for it."
Harris' decision to skip the dinner comes after she refused a second debate on Fox News proposed by Team Trump, only for Team Harris to counteroffer a debate on CNN, which was turned down by his campaign.
This year's Al Smith Dinner will take place about three weeks out from the November 5 presidential election.
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