Donald Trump has taken aim at Kamala Harris at a fundraising dinner in honour of Catholic charities.
Hosted by the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, the Al Smith dinner is a jovial point in election campaign season, where candidates deliver humorous speeches, jibing at one another.
Harris was notably absent from this year’s dinner due to “scheduling conflicts" and delivered her message via a pre-recorded video instead. The Archbishop had previously stated that he was "disappointed" she would not be attending in person, joking that it "did not go well" with the last presidential hopeful who absconded the dinner.
Her absence was criticised by Donald Trump, who delivered a sharp rebuttal of Harris and other Democratic figures. The former president highlighted Harris's absence from the event, noting her decision to focus on campaigning in Wisconsin, a critical battleground state, instead of attending the dinner in New York, traditionally a Democratic stronghold.
“Catholics,” he said, “you’ve got to vote for me. You better remember: I’m here, and she’s not.”
Trump’s jibes included reference to second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s affair during his previous marriage, as well as questions about both President Joe Biden and Harris’s mental state.
“We have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have mental faculties of a child,” Trump said. “It’s a person that has nothing going, no intelligence whatsoever. But enough about Kamala Harris.”
In her video message, Harris appeared alongside comedienne Molly Shannon, who reprised her Saturday Night Live role as Catholic schoolgirl Mary Katherine Gallagher.
Harris took aim at Trump for his dissemination of falsehoods regarding the 2020 election outcome, with Molly Shannon joking that the “fact checker” of the night would be Jesus Christ himself.
Harris jibed that criticising Catholics at the event would be tantamount to "criticising Detroit in Detroit", referencing Trump’s own behaviour.
In her closing remarks, she said: “The Church cares for the sick and feeds the hungry. The Gospel of Luke tells us to guide our feet in the path of peace… Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”