“All great change in America begins at the dinner table,” President Ronald Reagan told the nation in his 1989 farewell address — and the 2024 Alfred E. Smith Dinner is no exception to the rule.
Politics, money, and religion were all at the table Thursday evening as a plethora of plutocrats gathered for the annual event in New York City, which comedian Jim Gaffigan called the “Catholic Met Gala” in his opening comments.
Traditionally, both Democrat and Republican presidential nominees speak before a room of hundreds of diners. They elicit laughs with lighthearted roasts as a testament to the humanity of larger-than-life politicians.
It is a rite of passage on the path to the White House. But what happens when one party decides to break tradition instead of bread?
Even though Catholics account for 22 percent of the American population, Vice President Kamala Harris opted out of the charity event to campaign in a battleground state. Except Harris was not on stage in Wisconsin when the dinner began at 8 p.m. — she spoke for 30 minutes before wrapping up her last rally for the day in Green Bay around 7:20 p.m.
Hours before President Donald Trump made Democrats blush with meta punches and praises, Harris was busy telling religious protesters shouting “Jesus is Lord” that they went to “the wrong rally” in La Crosse.
“I’m sorry. Why is Vice President Harris not here?” Gaffigan asked, as some of the attendees jeered. “I mean, consider this. This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee.”
Trump broke the fourth wall with jokes about his criminal indictments in the state — as New York Attorney General Letitia James sat mere feet behind him — and quips acknowledging his infamous characterization by Democrats and the media. He opened up about attending the Al Smith Dinner with his father, Fred Trump, and admonished Harris for disrespecting the faith by “attending” via pre-recorded video.
“You’ve got to go to the dinner. You’ve got to do it. Otherwise, bad things are going to happen to you from up there,” Trump joked, gesturing to God up above. “You can’t do what I just saw on that screen. But my opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event and, in particular, to our great Catholic community. Very disrespectful.”
Trump flipped the script on his infamous 2016 roast of then-Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, which even he said “went overboard,” and settled for a slight simmer of those on the opposing side of the aisle. The Republican nominee empathized with New York City Mayor Eric Adams over the legal warfare of his recent indictments, referred to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as a “good man,” and reserved most of his criticism of Harris on policy issues and her absence.
“I just want to be nice because I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders. We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted and so are you, Eric,” Trump told the Democrat mayor.
Harris recited lines with Saturday Night Live alum Mary Katherine Gallagher, who called the event the vice president dodged “one of the biggest dinners next to the Last Supper.”
The Harris video’s references to Kamala’s XX chromosomes and pop singer Taylor Swift rang hollow in the crowded room, which only applauded when the stiff skit concluded. Harris went through the motions without emotion, flatly reading pre-written remarks with no flash of color.
America needs an executive, not a virtual avatar.
We need a body in a room whose eyes can meet any adversary, domestic or foreign, and deliver warmth while saying, “Don’t cross me.”
Rather than challenge Trump in a contest of commanding the room, Kamala Harris hid behind a camera from the comfort of her inner circle.
She has done so by waiting 67 days until the election to address the nation in her first sit-down interview since replacing President Joe Biden — on CNN alongside her running mate, Tim Walz.
She had done so by joining forces with ABC News moderators David Muir and Lindsey Davis in her meticulously planned debate against Trump on Sept. 10.
And she continued by immersing herself in a friendly media blitz on The View, the Howard Stern Show, Late Night With Stephen Colbert, and the Call Her Daddy podcast. Harris almost made headway by participating in what became an evasive interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, but four staffers hastily called a lid early despite the Democrat nominee arriving 15 minutes late.
Distance and digitization create division, making it easier for the federal government to control the American citizen. This is a battle between authenticity and authoritarianism. A fight for connection in an age of dehumanization — and Americans have a choice.
“These are challenging times for our beautiful USA, but I’m committed to working with every partner here in New York and all across the nation to build an America that once again is strong and safe and proud and prosperous and free,” Trump said to rich diners — and the Americans watching on television in their homes.
“We’re going to make sure together we can create a future defined by great ambitions and grand achievements that once again inspires the dreams of our children, brings back the American Dream,” he added.
Kamala Harris reads from a script, but Donald Trump can read the room — is America ready to turn the page?
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer who covers media and politics. Read her other work published by Daily Caller, Headline USA, and the Federalist. Follow her on Twitter @JuliannaFrieman.