Kamala Harris to skip historic Al Smith Dinner in New York before election, campaign official says
CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris will not attend next month’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York City, her campaign has told organizers, opting instead to stump in a battleground state on October 17, less than three weeks before the election.
Vice President Kamala Harris will not attend next month’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York City, her campaign has told organizers, opting instead to stump in a battleground state on October 17, less than three weeks before the election. The historic Catholic fundraiser traditionally features light roasts by the two major-party nominees – aimed at one another and others – in presidential election years. This fall’s gathering is already sold out and poised to welcome an estimated 1,500 guests to a gala ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, Donald Trump stunned attendees in 2016 when he abandoned the collegial banter and launched a series of personal attacks on Hillary Clinton, who in her own remarks had offered the expected round of self-deprecating humor. The affair – black-tie for attendees, white-tie for the headliners – is named after the first major-party Catholic presidential nominee, four-term New York Gov. Al Smith, the Democratic standard-bearer in 1928. Smith lost to Republican Herbert Hoover, and it would be more than three decades before another Catholic candidate, Democrat John F. Kennedy, was nominated by a major party – on his way to the White House in 1960. Eight years ago, with New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan seated nearby, Trump ambushed Clinton, calling her a liar and mocking her over hacked emails. When the audience booed, Trump went further, saying, “I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I. For example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.”
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that nearly 100,000 residents who may not have fulfilled the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirements can still vote in state and local races this year, quickly resolving how election officials should address a clerical glitch that had left the eligibility of those registered voters in question.
Facing intense criticism for promoting false claims that Haitian immigrants in the Ohio city of Springfield are abducting and eating other residents’ pets, Sen. JD Vance has tried to pivot by blaming Vice President Kamala Harris and the influx of Haitians during her vice presidency for a variety of broader social issues in Springfield.
Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials
Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.
After a quarter-century hosting giant pandas, Zoo Atlanta is saying goodbye to its beloved residents. The zoo announced its four giant pandas: Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Ya Lun and Xi Lun will head home to China mid-October. Meanwhile, the San Diego Zoo welcomed two new pandas this summer, and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington expects to become home to two bears by the end of 2024.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on Friday launched a new television ad seeking to tie former President Donald Trump to North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson, a day after a bombshell KFile report detailed a series of inflammatory comments Robinson made more than a decade ago.