Washington, DC Newsroom, October 18, 2024 / 1:55 p.m

Former President Donald Trump and comedian Jim Gaffigan criticized Vice President Kamala Harris during the annual Al Smith Dinner for her decision to skip the event, which both major party candidates traditionally attend in presidential election years.

“My opponent feels like she doesn’t have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event and especially to our great Catholic community,” Trump said to applause from some guests.

The dinner will be held on Thursday, October 17, in memory of Al Smith, governor of New York in the 1920s and the first Catholic to be nominated for president by a major political party. The $5,000-a-plate dinner, hosted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, was expected to raise up to $10 million for Catholic Charities in the state.

Typically, the two contestants exchange light-hearted jokes about each other and themselves. However, in 2016, Trump broke from that precedent with sharp criticism of his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Harris, who was campaigning in the battleground state of Wisconsin on the day of the dinner, instead sent a recorded video to address guests.

“Instead of being there tonight, (Harris) is in Michigan receiving communion from (Governor) Gretchen Whitmer,” Trump joked, referencing a TikTok video of the Michigan governor feeding a Dorito to a podcast host. which mimics a viral trend but has been interpreted by some Catholics to appear similar to receiving Holy Communion.

Trump noted that Walter Mondale was the last major party candidate to skip the event in 1984, which he said “didn't go very well for him.” President Ronald Reagan won re-election that year in a landslide against Mondale, winning 49 of 50 states.

“It is a longstanding tradition that both Democratic and Republican candidates for President of the United States always attend this dinner,” Trump said. “It’s a rule – you have to go to dinner.”

“Otherwise bad things will happen to you from up there,” the former president added, pointing upwards.

Trump repeatedly took a swipe at Harris during his speech, saying he “hoped she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh,” something he has mocked in other speeches. He also said that in order to get Harris to attend, the archdiocese should have told her the funds would be used to rescue the looters and rioters in Minneapolis and she would have been here.

Gaffigan, the Catholic stand-up comedian and actor who hosted the event, also criticized Harris for not attending the event, saying, “Catholics will be a key group in any battleground state.”

“I'm sorry, why isn't Vice President Harris here?” Gaffigan said. “I mean, remember, this is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a basket case for the Democratic candidate.”

Before Trump's speech, organizers played a video clip of Harris, which was met with a little applause, some cheering and a handful of boos. The clip included an appearance by former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Molly Shannon, who played one of her recurring fictional characters from the series, a Catholic teenager named Mary Katherine Gallagher.

In the clip, Harris asks the character for advice on what to talk about, to which Shannon replies, “Don't say anything negative about Catholics,” to which Harris replies, “I would never do that, no matter where I were – that.” “That would be “like criticizing Detroit in Detroit,” referring to a Trump event in Detroit where the former president criticized the state of the city.

“The Al Smith Dinner provides a rare opportunity to put partisanship aside and come together to do good by supporting the tremendous charitable work of the Catholic Church,” Harris said.

“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, most importantly, a sense of hope,” she said, then quoted the Gospel of St. Luke.

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“In the spirit of tonight’s dinner, let us once again strive to reach across divides and seek understanding and common ground,” Harris added. “And in honor of the great Al Smith, we fight to build a better future with faith in God, our country and each other.”

Trump also praised the charitable work of the Catholic Church, saying: “They help the poor, educate children and support the weak.” He also used several moments during the speech to make campaign pitches.

“You have to go out and vote, and Catholics have to vote for me,” Trump said. “Remember, you better remember that I'm here and she's not.”

Trump made some crude remarks that drew mixed reactions from the crowd, including a reference to an allegation that Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, committed adultery in his first marriage. He also commented on the group called “White Dudes for Harris,” saying he's “not worried about them” because “their wives and their lovers are all voting for me.”

The former president also repeatedly took a swipe at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sat next to the podium where Trump spoke. That included a comment that claimed Schumer had pushed President Joe Biden out of the presidential race and a comment in which he presumably questioned the majority leader's masculinity.

“Considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala (Harris) loses, you still have a chance to become the first female president,” Trump told Schumer, prompting the Senate leader to shake his head with a grin.

Before the event, Trump participated in an interview on EWTN's “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo,” in which the former president discussed abortion, religious freedom and his admiration for the Catholic Church.

Some recent polls show Catholic voters are almost evenly divided over the 2024 presidential election. About 52% of Catholics support Trump and 47% support Harris, according to a September Pew Research Center poll. A poll conducted by the National Catholic Reporter found that Catholics in the seven most closely contested swing states preferred Trump by 50% to Harris by 45%.