Kamala to skip Al Smith dinner charity event as Trump confirms attendance, first time candidate has declined invite since 1984

Vice President Kamala Harris has opted to skip the traditional Al Smith dinner charity event in New York this upcoming October. While Donald Trump has agreed to go to the 79th iteration of the dinner hosted by the Archdiocese of New York, Harris will instead go campaign in battleground states, her campaign has said.

According to the New York Post, the dinner has been a tradition for both presidential candidates to attend where they give cordial speeches that include friendly roasts of one another. Candidates going back to 1960 with Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy have appeared at the dinner with the exception of candidate Walter Mondale in 1984.

Joseph Zwilling, the Archdiocese spokesperson told the outlet that they learned Harris will not be in attendance, “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,” adding, “We hope she reconsiders.”

Trump has reached out to Zwilling and confirmed his spot at the dinner this time around. Harris’ team said that she would only be willing to attend the dinner as the president in office if she is elected. The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner was first held in 1946 and raises millions each year to support people in need in New York City. The dinner is held annually, but during election years, presidential candidates have joined in and will trade light jabs at each other for charity.

Harris will be the first to decline an invitation since 1984 when Mondale ran a losing campaign against Nixon. The dinner this year will take place at the New York Hilton Midtown.