Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, said he is “disappointed” sitting Vice President Kamala Harris chose to snub the traditional Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.
The Al Smith Dinner is an annual New York fundraiser for Catholic charities. With the exceptions of 1996 and 2004, since 1960 (when presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon attended) the dinner has invited the two major presidential nominees to attend in a show of good-humored unity. The candidates gently skewer their opponents while mixing in some self-deprecation.
Former President Donald Trump attended the dinner in 2016 and virtually (due to the pandemic) in 2020.
No nominee since Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984 has declined an invitation … until now.
“We’re disappointed,” Dolan told reporters Monday of Kamala’s snub. “We were looking forward to giving the vice president an enthusiastic welcome.”
Putting some pressure on her, Dolan added, “She speaks very much about the high ideals of how it’s good to get away from division and come together in unity and all that. That’s what the Al Smith dinner is all about.”
“We’re not used to this, we don’t know how to handle it,” Dolan told reporters on Monday. “This hasn’t happened in 40 years since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation. And remember, he lost 49 out of 50 states.”
Dolan then revealed that apparently the snub was not Kamala’s idea. Her staff purportedly made the decision. “Senator Schumer said to me, ‘I don’t think she made the decision, I think her schedulers are saying she can’t make it.’ So we’re not giving up, we hope she’s here.”
We all know why Kamala is refusing to attend… First off, she’s a religious bigot who wants nothing to do with Catholics or Jews. Secondly, she’s likely terrified of finding herself on an even playing field with Trump. Without corrupt referees like ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis to rig the proceedings against Trump, Kamala’s worried (legitimately) about being shown up and becoming the butt of the joke. In 2016, Trump famously owned the night against Madame Hillary.
This is not a good look for Kamala. Granted, her run-and-hide strategy has worked pretty well so far, but six more weeks of this when voters are eager for change could backfire, even with the corporate media enabling her. Kamala’s failure to capitalize on her debate victory is surprising. Additionally, the Trump campaign and Trump himself have been remarkably disciplined since the second assassination attempt.
Poll after poll shows voters prefer Trump’s policies over Kamala’s. The only thing holding him back is the boorish behavior so many find off-putting. If he controls himself for the next six weeks, if he can show these voters he’s grown into the job some, he might just win this thing.
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