By LifeSiteNews (Faith) | Created at 2024-09-26 18:29:39 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:15:53
3 days ago
Thu Sep 26, 2024 - 2:12 pm EDT
NEW YORK (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Timothy Dolan is not only “doubly disappointed” that Kamala Harris is planning to skip out on next month’s Al Smith fundraising dinner, he also believes she is making a major political miscalculation.
During a press conference at Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center in Yonkers this week, Dolan, who has overseen the Archdiocese of New York since 2009, expressed his dismay at the Democratic nominee for president’s decision to not attend the $5,000-a-plate charity event, which is expected to raise more than $7 million for needy nonprofits.
READ: New Trump campaign ad: ‘Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.’
“You know, she speaks very much about the high ideals and how it’s good to get away from division, and come together in unity, and all. That’s what the Al Smith Dinner is all about,” the 74-year-old cardinal remarked.
“I don’t know who’s advising her, but she’s not getting good advice,” he also said on his podcast Tuesday.
Cardinal Dolan reacts to Kamala Harris snubbing the Al Smith Dinner, a Catholic charity event historically attended by presidential candidates from both parties to help disadvantaged children.
“It hasn’t happened in 40 years since Walter Mondale—and he lost 49 states.” pic.twitter.com/gX9QrZbH4Y
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) September 24, 2024
Dolan’s criticism comes as both Harris and Republican Donald Trump’s campaigns have made concerted efforts to appeal to Catholic voters in recent weeks.
On September 4, the Trump team announced the relaunching of the Catholics for Trump coalition, which was originally undertaken in 2020. On September 8, Trump wished the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, “Happy Birthday” on social media on the feast of Her Nativity. He also thanked the Arizona-based Catholics for Catholics group for its faith-based advocacy.
The Harris campaign has likewise attempted to rebrand her image with Catholic voters, who, according to a Pew Research poll, are favoring Trump 52 percent to Harris’ 47 percent.
During a “Catholics for Harris” virtual meeting last week, dissident Catholics like Sr. Simone Campbell and pro-abortion lawmakers like Connecticut congresswoman Rosa DeLauro touted Harris’ alleged commitment to middle-class Americans of faith.
But Harris has a long track record of attacking Catholic as well as pro-life Americans. As attorney general of California, she directed law enforcement to raid the home of pro-life Catholic journalist David Daleiden in 2016. As a U.S. senator, she smeared a Trump nominee over his membership in the Catholic Knights of Columbus group. Harris has also voted for pro-LGBT legislation that would restrict the religious liberty of Catholics and against bills that would require medical care or babies born alive after botched abortions.
What’s more, during her time as vice president, the FBI spied on Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass. Catholic father of seven Mark Houck also had his home raided by FBI agents in 2022 under the Biden-Harris administration after he engaged in pro-life activism.
READ: Jailed pro-lifer held in prolonged solitary confinement suffers stroke
Donald Trump was quick to call out Harris’ decision to rebuff the dinner, which he will still be attending.
“It’s sad, but not surprising, that Kamala has decided not to attend. I don’t know what she has against our Catholic friends, but it must be a lot, because she certainly hasn’t been very nice to them, in fact, Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Administration. Any Catholic that votes for Comrade Kamala Harris should have their head examined,” he said on Truth Social Monday.
The host of this year’s event, which is scheduled for October 17 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, is pro-LGBT, anti-Trump liberal professed Catholic comedian Jim Gaffigan.
Dolan noted that the last candidate to not come to the dinner was Democrat Walter Mondale, who lost in a 49-state landslide to incumbent Republican Ronald Reagan in 1984. Harris’ team has said she is busy campaigning in battleground states, though Dolan says he is hopeful she will be persuaded to attend.
The Al Smith Dinner is hosted by the Archdiocese of New York every two years. It is named in honor of Al Smith, a Catholic, four-term Democratic governor of New York in the early 20th century who was his party’s nominee for president in 1928. Candidates seeking the White House have been participating in the event since the 1960s. In 2016, attendees suffered through an uncomfortable evening when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton viciously attacked each other, causing many Catholics to argue that the event should be ended. Both Trump and Joe Biden delivered virtual remarks to the gathering in 2020.
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