Vice President Kamala Harris has found herself at the center of controversy following her decision to send a pre-recorded video to the esteemed Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, or simply Al Smith Dinner, a high-profile Catholic charity event held during election years.
Held annually in New York, Al Smith Dinner is a major fundraising event that has long been a platform for presidential candidates to roast themselves and their political opponents in a light-hearted manner. (Related: Kamala Harris admits she WON'T DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT from Biden.)
But instead of attending the event in person, Harris submitted a video featuring comedian Molly Shannon with her iconic "Saturday Night Live" character, Mary Katherine Gallagher, a quirky Catholic schoolgirl. "I just want to say that I'm Catholic and tonight is one of the biggest dinners next to the Last Supper," Shannon, playing Gallagher, told Harris in the video, before launching into her trademark behavior of sticking her hands under her armpits and smelling them.
However, the comedic routine, which was meant to inject humor into the evening, has been widely criticized by attendees and netizens for being tone-deaf in the context of the religious audience.
"Kamala Harris releases her pre-recorded video for the Al Smith dinner in New York that she didn't show up for," said Josh Dunlap, a popular commentator on X. "This might be her undoing." Other prominent voices, including Catholic author Taylor Marshall, asked: "Why did Kamala just purposely offend every Catholic in the United States?"
The backlash didn't stop there. Damian Ranger also took to X, accusing Harris of harboring anti-Catholic sentiments, while private equity fund manager Grant Cardone, a private equity fund manager with over a million followers on X, slammed the Vice President for her absence and the use of actors in her video. "Kamala Harris sends dumb video for prestigious Al Smith Dinner (which) will be the final blow to her campaign. So disrespectful to 22M Catholic voters," said Cardone.
The reaction among attendees was similarly negative. Ainsley Earhardt, co-host of Fox and Friends, was at the event and described the audience as unamused and uncomfortable. "There was no laughter among the guests in the room," she said. Fellow co-host Brian Kilmeade added: "It totally bombed. It was the worst thing ever."
Even critics from across the political spectrum have piled on, with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec calling the video "CRINGE" and senior Trump adviser Jason Miller describing it as "historically bad." The response has fueled speculations about the political damage Harris might suffer from this misstep, particularly among Catholic voters, a significant voting bloc in the United States.
Trump: Harris should have gone to the event, instead of sending a video message
Former President Donald Trump, who attended the annual Catholic charity event, also expressed strong displeasure in the pre-recorded video message.
"Just found out that Lyin' Kamala is doing a video message tonight instead of being at the Al Smith Dinner," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Oct. 17. "She shouldn't be allowed to do a video message. Kamala should be there like almost every other Presidential Candidate in their History, except Walter Mondale, who lost 49-1. They didn't give me the option of a video message, nor would I have done it. This is very disrespectful to everyone involved. She should be here, or lose the Catholic Vote!"
"I must say I was shocked when I heard that Kamala was skipping the Al Smith Dinner," Trump added. "I'd really hope that she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy. We would recognize it any place in this room."
Adding a jab, Trump joked about Harris' efforts to appeal to Catholics: "Instead of attending tonight, she's in Michigan receiving Communion from Gretchen Whitmer," referring to a recent controversy involving the Michigan governor, who apologized for a TikTok video seen as mocking the Eucharist.
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