Traditional Catholic dinner in New York criticized because of Trump

Kamala Harris, Vice President and Democratic frontrunner, announced a few weeks ago. She will not be attending the traditional Al Smith dinner. Even before the traditional charity event began, the host, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, criticized Harris for canceling and, according to US media, said somewhat sarcastically that the Democrat was on “one of those Zoom calls or something” to replace it.

The diner was established in 1945

Even without Kamala Harris, the dinner reflected the toxic state of the country shortly before the presidential election. He was accompanied by boos and partial jokes; and so the opposite of what the dinner called in honor of the first Catholic presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith which was once traditional. It was held for the first time in 1945. The aim is to collect donations for charitable purposes. A ticket costs $5,000.

Insults and innuendos below the belt

The tone was set by Donald Trump, who said in his speech that he could not joke about himself. Few in the room found what he then said about his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden to be funny. “We have someone in the White House who can barely speak, can barely form two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental capacity of a child. This is a person who can do nothing, who has no information. about Kamala Harris.”

He emphasized the candidate’s name again and again, which led to an intervention from the audience: “Her name is Ka-ma-la.” Trump did the same with the name of Barack Obama, with the middle name of Hussein that he celebrated in the speech he read.

What went below the belt was a reference to an affair that Doug Emhoff had a long time ago in his first marriage, which he had talked about publicly. If Harris wins the election, he advises “not to let her husband Doug near the nuns.” As some in the audience protested, Trump said: “It’s bad advice that is.”

Criticism of Cardinal Dolan

The appearance echoed the criticism of the “National Catholic Reporter”, which accused Cardinal Dolan in an editorial of criticizing Harris for his non-participation and normalizing Trump. “We’re disappointed you didn’t have the courage to stand up to Trump,” he read before the event.

Reference is made to the mass deportation of millions of immigrants that Trump announced during the election, his resignation in the storm of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the guilty verdict in the money laundering scandal in the was the actress Stormy Daniels. The cardinal’s correct decision was to “cancel the usual invitations.”

Kamala Harris in video message: “Don’t insult Catholics”

In a pre-recorded video message, Harris appeared with comedian Molly Shannon, reprising her role as Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher from “Saturday Night Live.” This advised Harris not to insult Catholics at the Catholic dinner. Harris replied that she wouldn’t do that anywhere. “That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit. ” Swipe at Trump’s kick in the ass during a speech in the city the week before.

The three-minute clip was more in the Al Smith Dinner tradition, but overall it didn’t cause much fun due to its lack of immediacy. At the end of the evening, several people thought it would be better to advise the court not to invite the candidates altogether. Especially since he was warned: Trump had already canceled the dinner in 2016 – in the presence of Hillary Clinton.