Nationwide political correspondent Maggie Haberman instructed earlier this week that there can be “zero cost” for Vice President Harris to skip the annual Al Smith dinner.
“There is, I think, zero cost to her skipping this despite complaints otherwise,” Haberman informed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Thursday night forward of the dinner hosted by New York Catholic Charities.
Harris selected to not attend the dinner in individual, making her the primary main presidential candidate to show down the invitation in a number of a long time. As a substitute, she opted to proceed her swing by the battleground state of Wisconsin, because the election attracts nearer.
The vp did ship remarks through a video by which she blasted her GOP rival, former President Trump, who was in attendance, for election denialism and his current assaults on town of Detroit.
Comic Jim Gaffigan, who emceed the dinner, swiped at Harris for her absence, calling the occasion a “layup” for the Democratic nominee.
“I’m sorry, why is Vice President Harris not here?” he requested.
“I mean, consider this. … This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee,” he added on the time.
Trump additionally knocked Harris for her absence, calling it “deeply disrespectful.”
“My opponent appears like she doesn’t need to be right here, which is deeply disrespectful to the occasion, and specifically to our nice Catholic group,” he mentioned.
Blitzer requested Haberman Thursday what she anticipated from Trump on the dinner. The veteran journalist, who has lined the previous president for years, mentioned he would probably lean into humor and his assaults on Harris.
“For him to make all kinds of jokes at the expense of some of the people sitting in the room with him and for him to say things about Kamala Harris that are similar to what he says on the campaign trail,” she mentioned within the interview, highlighted by Mediaite. “But, I mean, that is very much — it’s a mixed room, politically, but it’s a pretty hospitable environment for Trump.”
“The irony is that it is filled with the kind of elites who he trashes all the time,” she added.
Haberman additionally weighed into the vp’s blitz by the “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — or these received by Trump in 2016 however recaptured by President Biden in 2020. Requested by Blitzer if the previous president is assured he can flip them again, she wasn’t so positive.
“I wouldn’t say that they’re confident that they can retake them,” she mentioned. “They are very hopeful that they can retake them.”
“But we are still 19 days out from Election Day and a lot can change,” she later added, saying that about Pennsylvania specifically is a “tough one.”
The Hill/Choice Desk HQ’s combination of polls reveals Trump narrowly main Harris in Wisconsin, 48.6 p.c to 48.3 p.c, and in Michigan, with 48.6 p.c assist to her 48.2 p.c.
In Pennsylvania, seen as one of the vital essential states to win, Harris has a slight edge over her GOP rival — 48.7 p.c to 48.3 p.c — the index reveals.
