Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he was "disappointed" that Vice President Kamala Harris opted to skip the Al Smith Dinner on Thursday, telling The Good Newsroom that the annual event "is literally right up her alley."
"I am a little nervous, obviously still disappointed, because the vice president isn't coming," Dolan said Thursday ahead of the event.
"I blew it yesterday on my show in announcing that she is sending one of those Zooms or something," he said. "I wasn't supposed to say that but now, apparently, it's out."
The cardinal said that he tried to convince Harris' team to add the dinner to the vice president's schedule, because of how he thinks her message and the message of the event align.
"I really thought, and I tried to press this with her people, this is literally right up her alley," Dolan said. "Here you've got somebody talking about can't we bring amity and unity back; well, that's what the whole Al Smith Dinner's about."
In an interview with The Good Newsroom on Tuesday, Dolan said that "the nature of the evening is civility, patriotism, humor."
"It's not a campaign speech, it's not a campaign stop, it's not a roast," he said. "There's teasing – big time teasing – the tradition of the evening is you tease yourself and you tease the other person. [It's] a lot of laughs."
Created in 1946 as a fundraiser for women and children in need, the Al Smith Dinner is "not a red or blue event" the cardinal said, but rather a "red, white, and blue" event.
"So, we're upset that she [Harris] didn't come because we've missed an evening to accent something sorely needed now, that even she articulates rather eloquently – that we've got to turn the page on bitterness, and the Al Smith Dinner traditionally tries to do that," Dolan said.
On Tuesday, he said the event will likely raise $9 million, which will be stewarded by an interfaith board.
Former President Donald Trump is attending the dinner in person, but Harris declined the invite.
Late last month, Catholic League President Bill Donohue blasted Harris, who is the Democrat presidential nominee, for skipping the Al Smith Dinner, saying she "talks like a preschooler," is light on policy, and worse when it comes to personality.
In a column on the Catholic League website, Donohue said it's "smart" for Harris to opt out of the event.
The vice president is reportedly missing the charity function because she is "busy campaigning." Donohue called it a "poor excuse," but said it was probably a good move regardless because "this kind of setting would be a disaster" for Harris.
"This event demands that the participants be quick on their feet, and that is not exactly her strong suit," he wrote. "And she won't have her dancing sidekick, [Democrat vice presidential nominee] Tim [Walz], or her billionaire buddy, Oprah, there to bail her out."