Beautiful ball gowns, glittering jewelry and spiffy suits decked the halls of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel this past Thursday. Was it the Met Gala? A fashion runway? This recent event was none other than the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. A beloved 64-year-old historical gala in New York City, the event raises money for Catholic charities that support children and women in New York. Attended by the wealthiest and most influential civic, political, business and Catholic leaders in America, the gala is infamous for its humor, as comedians make fun of the current American presidential candidates, who are roasted all night long (The Wall Street Journal). Although this event may seem unusual when you first hear about it, it has become a highly influential cultural tradition in the United States and has a fascinating history.
The gala is held in memory of Al Smith, a priest in the early twentieth century, who grew up in poverty in New York City and eventually became the first Catholic nominated to become President of the United States. He was nominated by the Democratic party in the 1928 presidential election. After Smith’s death, Cardinal Francis Spellman founded and hosted the first Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in 1960. The guest stars that evening were John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The gala quickly became an important event, and, in the words of Theodore White, it is a “ritual of American politics.” Commonly, it is the last event in which the two American presidential candidates both attend and take center stage before the election. The gala is seen as important because it is supposed to be an opportunity for candidates to make and receive light-hearted jabs at each other amidst the heat of political debates (Newsweek). And, in 2024, society definitely needs the chance to lighten the polarization of politics. The 2024 Al Smith gala was more controversial than any other previous, however, when Kamala Harris became only the second presidential candidate ever to decline her invitation and not attend the event. Instead, she opted to send in a pre-recorded humorous video to be played at the gala.
Prior to 2024, the only presidential candidate to miss the Al Smith gala was Walter Mondale. For reference, he was Jimmy Carter’s vice president and the Democratic nominee for the 1984 presidential election. But, this year, Kamala Harris’ press team told the public that “while she would love to attend the gala she is too busy campaigning to make an appearance.” Continuing on their statement, the team said that Harris ‘prefers to focus on battleground states instead of attending a gala in New York, a heavily Democratic state.’ In contrast, Donald Trump made his third appearance at the dinner (Newsweek).
Why was Harris’ decision so controversial? An upset Archbishop of New York who organized the dinner explained it perfectly: “We’re not used to this; we don’t know how to handle it,” Dolan said on Monday. “This hasn’t happened in 40 years, since Walter Mondale turned down the invitation. And remember, he lost 49 out of 50 states.” Additionally, while Harris was skipping the predominantly Catholic dinner, she was at a campaign event and fell into a second controversy when she ridiculed and dismissed the Christians who were present at her rally (Newsweek).
Harris told her supporters that if she wins the presidential election she will work to “implement many pro-abortion legislation bills so that women have the fundamental freedom…to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.” Harris was interrupted by an anti-abortion protester who had shouted “Jesus is Lord” in the middle of her remarks. Harris laughed and responded: “Oh, I think you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street” in reference to a Trump rally that had taken place shortly before Harris’ rally in the same city (Fox News, CNN).
Harris’ vocal support for “reproductive rights” directly opposes the Catholic Church’s position on the right to life and the belief that life exists from conception to natural death. By dismissing the tradition of presidential candidates attending the Gala, she snubbed the Catholic vote. By dismissing pro-lifers at her rally, Harris indicates that she will not try to build bridges between the divide of those who support abortion and those who are pro-life.
As the Democratic presidential nominee and current vice president, Harris has an extreme amount of power in American politics. In my opinion, she needs to be a bigger person and be kind to all Americans. Arguably, politicians face more ridicule than anyone else. It is part of their job. But if Harris wants to become the leader of our country, she needs to lead as an example and attempt to bridge the divide between pro-life and pro-choice American voters. While an unfortunate situation, I think she missed an opportunity to show herself to be for all of America, not just pro-choice Democrats. We will know shortly if Kamala Harris will fare better than Walter Mondale. Potentially alienating such a large and powerful voting block, however, is a risky decision for any presidential candidate. No candidate should take the Catholic vote for granted.
By: Sarah Lange
Co Editor-in-Chief and Editor of Opinions and Politics
