Former President Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning and quickly commented on Vice President Kamala Harris’s absence from Thursday evening’s 79th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. He said to the hosts that his opponent “unusually didn’t show up. You would’ve thought she would’ve shown up. We were surprised,” Trump added. “We were all surprised.” Harris, for her part, sent a pre-recorded video message despite skipping the event. Comedian Molly Shannon starred in the video along with the vice president, reprising her Saturday Night Live character, catholic student Mary Katherine Gallagher.
11:33 AM EDT
Sunny Hostin: ‘Sometimes there’s a time to break tradition’
The hosts of The View voiced their disapproval of the Al Smith dinner for including former President Donald Trump, claiming the event should have set a precedent by not inviting him. They shared their gratitude that Vice President Kamala Harris chose to skip the event.
“I hate to break with tradition, because this is a tradition, and it’s a tradition to have both presidential candidates come to this particular dinner,” Sunny Hostin said. “But sometimes there’s a time to break tradition. You can’t have a felon, a liar, a serial cheater.”
Co-host Sara Haines disagreed, however, arguing he should be invited as the Republican candidate.
“Being the lead Republican candidate that was nominated by his party, whether I agree or not, they need to be there, because why tell people he’s crazy,” Haines said. “We benched him. Let him speak for himself.”
11:27 AM EDT
Harris’s pre-recorded Al Smith video called ‘cringe’
Trending Politics co-owner Colin Rugg called the pre-recorded video Harris sent to the Al Smith dinner in her stead “cringe’ in a post to X.
NEW: Kamala Harris releases her pre-recorded video for the Al Smith dinner in New York that she didn’t show up for.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan made fun of the Vice President after the crowd gave a dismal applause once it ended.
Cringe. pic.twitter.com/9dvsYQub9h
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 18, 2024
11:25 AM EDT
N.Y. Mayor Eric Adams gets a bid of good luck from Trump
Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and wife Cheryl Hines and (Lower row, L-R) former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and former New York state Gov. George Pataki listen to Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speak during the annual Alfred E. Smith Foundation Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown on October 17, 2024, in New York City. Trump was the featured speaker with comedian Jim Gaffigan as the Master of Ceremonies at the the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Trump wished indicted Adams good luck in his speech.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
President Donald Trump told N.Y. Mayor Eric Adams, who was in attendance at last night’s Al Smith charity dinner, that he wishes him good luck in the midst of Adams’s indictment.
“You’re going to win, I think you’re going to win, I know you’re going to win, so good luck,” Trump told the mayor. “Good luck. I don’t like what they do.”
11:18 AM EDT
Trump comes for Harris for skipping Al Smith dinner
Donald Trump attacked Kamala Harris in his speech at the Al Smith charity dinner, ripping into her family and improperly saying her name. Harris notably skipped the event to make an appearance at Wisconsin, the battleground state, for the sixth time since starting her campaign for president.
“Right now, we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child. There’s a person that has nothing going. No intelligence whatsoever,” Trump said in his speech. “But enough about Kamala Harris.”
11:08 AM EDT
Marc Anthony endorses Kamala Harris
Singer Marc Anthony appeared in a campaign ad supporting Kamala Harris, saying that he remembers how things were when Donald Trump was president in 2016. He also pointed to the devastation left in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and how Trump “blocked billions in relief while thousands died.”
This ad is 🔥🔥🔥. Watch it! Amplify it!
Thank you, @MarcAnthony for taking a stand, for ALWAYS defending our community, for never forgetting, for supporting @KamalaHarris.
Gracias, Flaco lindo, por ser tan vertical y digno.
LFG, mi gente! 🇵🇷🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ApqxyzGYAF
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) October 18, 2024
11:03 AM EDT
Trump was ‘surprised’ that Harris skipped Al Smith dinner
In an appearance on Fox & Friends this morning, Donald Trump said to the hosts that his opponent “unusually didn’t show up. You would’ve thought she would’ve shown up. We were surprised,” Trump added. “We were all surprised.”
Harris did not attend, but she did send a pre-recorded video message starring Molly Shannon, who reprised her Saturday Night Live character catholic student Mary Katherine Gallagher.
