The Al Smith Dinner took place in New York City on Thursday night with Donald Trump in attendance. Kamala Harris, however, refused to appear at the event.

The last presidential candidate to not attend the Al Smith Dinner was Walter Mondale in 1984. He subsequently lost the election to Ronald Reagan in a landslide.

Here’s hoping history repeats itself here.

Though she didn’t attend, the dinner was still a disaster for Harris. First, she was roasted by the comedian Jiff Gaffigan, who was emceeing the event. Then, Harris sent in a pre-recorded video that was meant to be funny. Unfortunately for her, however, it was widely panned for being “cringe.”

The dinner opened with Gaffigan brutally annihilating Harris for skipping the Catholic event.

From Breitbart News:
“This event has been referred to as the Catholic Met Gala,” Gaffigan said. “Twenty-two percent of Americans identify as Catholic. Catholics will be a key demographic in every battleground state. I’m sorry, why is Vice President Harris not here?”

“This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee,” he joked. “I mean, in her defense, I mean, she did find time to appear on the View, Howard Stern, Colbert, and the longtime staple of campaigning, the Call Her Daddy podcast.”

He finally joked that he thought Harris did not show because she did not like him and asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was sitting beside the podium, if he had poor breath.

The audience gasped at Gaffigan’s anti-Harris jokes at first. They then began to cheer and whistle, indicating that they fully agreed with his remarks.

Harris Sends Cringeworthy Video

If Harris was going to disrespect Catholics everywhere by skipping the Al Smith Dinner, she probably should have stayed away altogether. Instead, she decided to send a video in which she appeared in a sketch with the former Saturday Night Live! star Molly Shannon.

The video was clearly a desperate attempt to be funny. Instead, footage from the dinner shows that it received basically zero laughs from the audience. The skit also mocked Catholics, which caused it to get an even frostier reception from attendees.

More from Breitbart News:
Comedian Molly Shannon: Maybe don’t say anything negative about Catholics.

Harris: I would never do that, no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.

Shannon: Does it bother you that that Trump guy insults you all the time? Because it really bothers my friends and me.

Harris: Oh, Mary Catherine, it’s very important to always remember you should never let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate. Shake it off. Shake it off. Shake it off. Shake it off.

Check out the video for yourself below. Consider yourself warned about a level of cringe that is out of this world.

Kamala Harris requires the help of SNL alumni Molly Shannon to deliver pre-taped jokes at the Al Smith dinner. pic.twitter.com/YRwT2xqTW4

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 18, 2024

Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has avoided virtually all public appearances that are not firmly in her control.

This dinner would have required Harris to be charismatic and “on” without being able to rely on a script. Trump is someone who can do this with ease, and he showed that with his demeanor at last night’s dinner. Harris, however, would have undoubtedly folded, which is partly why she avoided it like the plague.

Of course, this was also a Catholic dinner. Since it was for Christians, it fell low on the priority list of a woke leftist like Harris. It should be noted that this still might end up being a huge mistake for Harris. After all, Mondale was the last candidate to skip the Al Smith Dinner and look how that turned out for him weeks later.

Let’s hope that Harris meets the same fate on Election Day that Mondale did!

Key Takeaways:

• Harris became the first presidential candidate in 40 years to skip the Al Smith Dinner.
• Harris was roasted at the Al Smith Dinner anyway.
• Harris sent a pre-taped video of the event that was being slammed as a “cringe.”

Sources: Breitbart News, Breitbart News