Democratic presidential candidate and current United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris would skip this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, breaking a 60-year-old tradition, American media reported on Sunday (Sept 22)
The dinner benefitting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality and good humour, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs.
A report by the news agency Associated Press said that it was not clear whether Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would attend the dinner.
Why is Kamala Harris skipping the dinner?
The Associated Press report said that the reason Harris was skipping the dinner was so that she could campaign in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day on November 5.
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.
A look at what the dinner is all about
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.
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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.
In 2020, Trump and then Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke at the fundraiser when it was moved online due to the Covid pandemic.
(With inputs from agencies)
