Vice President Kamala Harris has announced she will not attend the Al Smith charity dinner this year, breaking with a tradition that goes back to 1960. Former President Donald Trump says he will attend the event.
A Harris campaign official confirmed she will skip the dinner to focus on campaigning in battleground states.
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner—the “Al Smith dinner”—is an annual fundraiser hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and traditionally attended by both major presidential candidates. In addition to raising millions every year, the chic fundraiser has come to symbolize underlying unity and the ability to put aside political differences for one night, in the name of good cheer….