For decades, both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees have traditionally attended and spoken at the Catholic Archdiocese of New York’s annual Al Smith dinner, a white-tie charity event benefitting children’s charities affiliated with the archdiocese. But for the first time in 40 years, one of the presidential candidates is declining the prestigious invitation. On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign confirmed that she would not be attending the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, still plans to make an appearance.

“We are disappointed that she will not be with us, as this is an evening of unity and putting aside political differences in support of a good cause of helping women and children in need regardless of race, creed, or background,” Archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling said of Harris’s refusal to attend. He added, “We hope she reconsiders.”

In 1984, Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale also declined the archdiocese’s invitation, reportedly due to “tensions” between the Democratic Party and Catholic bishops over abortion legislation. Previously, incumbent President Jimmy Carter was booed when speaking in 1980, at least partly due to his support for the pro-abortion Equal Rights Amendment. In 1992, the archdiocese did not invite either presidential nominee, instead inviting Pennsylvania’s Governor Robert Casey, a rare pro-life Catholic Democrat, to be the event’s speaker. Notably, the Democratic National Convention barred Casey from speaking just a few months earlier, due to his pro-life principles.

No presidential candidates were invited to speak in 1996, either, due to President Bill Clinton’s veto of pro-life legislation restricting late-term abortions. And again in 2004, the archdiocese did not invite Republican President George W. Bush or Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, largely in an effort to keep pro-abortion Kerry, a self-described Catholic, off the stage.

The dinner, scheduled this year for October 17, is often seen as a chance for the presidential candidates to showcase their comedy chops with some light roasting of themselves and each other. However, when appearing alongside former senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump shocked guests with his jokes at Clinton’s expense. Referring to the former secretary of State’s email server scandal and resulting congressional hearing, Trump quipped that Clinton attended the Catholic sacrament of confession prior to the dinner, but when the priest asked her about her sins, Clinton replied “I don’t know” 39 times. Commenting on Hillary’s penchant for advocating “one policy publicly and a totally different policy in private,” Trump said, “For example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.”

In 2020, the event was hosted virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Trump still used the platform to condemn the Democratic Party for its “anti-Catholic prejudice,” in addition to outing his own pro-life credentials. Given her own record of opposing Catholic values — most notably through the promotion of abortion — Harris may be attempting to avoid similar treatment from Trump.

The vice president has also garnered a reputation for fumbling public speaking appearances. Although mainstream media pundits claimed that Harris won the presidential debate earlier this month, polling has indicated that Independent and undecided voters were disappointed with Harris’s debate performance and have been increasingly aligning with Trump, especially in battleground states.

Harris has also performed poorly in interviews, failing to address concerns over her vague policy proposals and instead offering five-minute monologues on her “middle-class” childhood and upbringing. In a Thursday interview with Oprah Winfrey, featuring guest stars like Jennifer Lopez, Harris used a teleprompter, suggesting that she had been given questions in advance, and still did poorly. Wendell Husebo of Breitbart News commented, “Harris’s aides will likely be very busy on Friday trying to clean up her disastrous interview.”

“Kamala is bailing on the Al Smith Dinner — a charity event where candidates roast each other, attended by virtually every nominee since the 1960s,” the Trump campaign said on learning that Harris won’t be attending the event. “What’s she so afraid of? President Trump? Catholics? Or that she has no sense of humor?”