A tasty meal wasn’t the only thing served at the 79th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner Thursday evening.
Former President Donald Trump supplied plenty of jokes aimed at Vice President Kamala Harris, who was not at the bipartisan political event designed to provide lighthearted moments near the end of the presidential election season, per Fox News.
“If you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis, and she would have been here, guaranteed. She would have been guaranteed,” Trump said about Harris and her promotion of a bail fund during the riots of 2020.
Trump and former first lady Melania Trump attended along with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Attorney General Letitia James, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul. Comedian Jim Gaffigan was the emcee.
“I must say I was shocked when I heard that Kamala was skipping the Al Smith dinner. I’d really hoped that you would come, because we can’t get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy,” Trump said, providing another jab at Harris.
The Al Smith dinner started in 1946. It has raised millions of dollars for charities supporting women and children. The dinner’s namesake, Al Smith was the first Catholic presidential candidate in 1928 and ran as a Democrat. Smith served as the 42nd governor of New York.
Harris was not at the event herself, but sent a video instead.
Harris was joined by former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Molly Shannon as the character of Catholic student Mary Katherine Gallagher in her video.
“So tell me something, I’m giving a speech. Do you have some thoughts about what I might say tonight?” Harris asked Shannon.
“Don’t lie. Thou shall not bear false witness to thy neighbor,” Shannon said.
“Indeed, especially thy neighbor’s election results,” Harris replied.
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the host of the dinner, spoke about Harris’ absence earlier in the week.
“This year will be imbalanced because sadly, Kamala Harris isn’t coming,” Dolan said on his podcast Tuesday. “It’s a shame because the nature of the evening is to bring people together. The nature of the evening is civility, patriotism, humor. It’s not a campaign speech. It’s not a campaign stop.”
Harris’ campaign previously said Harris was not attending so she could focus on campaigning in Wisconsin, a battleground state, that day.
“The Vice President is going to be campaigning in a battleground state that day, and the campaign wants to maximize her time in the battlegrounds this close to the election,” per her campaign. “Her team also told the organizers that she would very much like to attend their event as President. This would make her one of the first sitting Presidents to attend.
Trump continued with his remarks Thursday evening, saying he would make some self-deprecating jokes, but his critics and opponents have beaten him to it by taking shots at him “for a hell of a long time.”
“Tradition holds that I’m supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes,” Trump said. “Nope. I’ve got nothing. I’ve got nothing. There’s nothing to say. I guess I just don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time,” he joked.
He then made a plea for votes.
“I think we have some serious problems in the world, but they’re going to get solved and we’re going to make America great again. And thank you very much. And God bless you all,” Trump said as he wrapped up his remarks Thursday.
Dolan said he expects the dinner to raise about $9 million. This money will be given to a variety of charities to assist women and children in need, according to a press release.
