Vice President Kamala Harris is reportedly planning to skip the historic Al Smith fundraiser dinner, according to her campaign.
Officials from the Harris campaign reportedly told organizers of the event that Harris, the Democrat presidential nominee, would not be attending this year’s event, according to CNN. Harris will reportedly be campaigning in a battleground state ahead of the presidential election.
The event is described as being a “historic Catholic fundraiser” in which the two presidential nominees from the Democrat and Republican parties give “light roasts” that are “aimed at one another and others.”
The historic Catholic fundraiser traditionally features light roasts by the two major-party nominees – aimed at one another and others – in presidential election years. This falls’s gathering is already sold out and poised to welcome an estimated 1,500 guests to a gala ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.
Trump has previously attended the Al Smith dinner in 2020 and 2016. During the 2016 Al Smith dinner, Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the Democrat’s presidential nominee at the time, shared the stage, where they roasted themselves and each other.
The tradition of the presidential candidates speaking and roasting each other began when former President John F. Kennedy and former President Richard Nixon spoke at the Al Smith dinner in 1960, according to Fox News.
During the 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential cycles the presidential candidates were reportedly not invited to attend the dinner hosted by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, according to the outlet.