Kamala Harris performed a bizarre prerecorded skit with a Saturday Night Live character instead of showing up at the Al Smith dinner.
The vice president was the first candidate to skip the Catholic pre-election fundraiser in 40 years, preferring to campaign in swing-state Wisconsin.
Harris instead appeared on screen in a three-and-a-half minute video with the help of SNL star Molly Shannon as her character Mary Katherine Gallagher.
The skit divided viewers, drawing cringes from even some of her supporters and scorn from Republicans, but others laughed at the jokes.
Kamala Harris skipped the Al Smith dinner but sent in a three-and-a-half minute video with the help of SNL star Molly Shannon as her character Mary Katherine Gallagher
The VP began seriously, calling the dinner ‘a rare opportunity to set aside partisanship’ before Gallagher interrupted her.
Dressed as a Catholic schoolgirl, she nervously shook hands with Harris, who explained she was recording her speech.
‘Oh yeah, I know, I just want to say that I’m Catholic, and tonight is one of the biggest dinners next to the Last Supper,’ Gallagher said.
Harris agreed: ‘It is a very important dinner, and it’s an important tradition that I’m so proud to be a part of.’
She asked Gallagher if she had any advice for her speech, creating opportunities to make jokes at Donald Trump’s expense.
‘Don’t lie. Thou shall not bear a false witness to thy neighbor,’ Gallagher suggested.
‘Indeed, especially thy neighbor’s election results,’ Harris replied, mocking Trump’s continued insistence that the 2020 election, which he lost, was ‘stolen’.
Harris skipped the Al Smith dinner to instead hold a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin (pictured at the rally) – a crucial swing state rather than solidly Democratic-voting New York
Donald Trump gave his speech in person and spent most of insulting Harris
‘Just so you know, there will be a fact-checker there tonight,’ Gallagher warned, in reference to Trump’s running mate JD Vance getting testy about moderators calling him out during his debate with Tim Walz.
Kamala Harris asked, ‘Who?’ to which Gallagher quipped: ‘Jesus.’
Gallagher also suggested Harris not make fun of Catholics at their own dinner.
‘I would never do that, no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit,’ Harris replied.
This jab was aimed at Trump insulting Detroit during a rally last week – while he was in Detroit.
‘It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands,’ he said.
Gallagher then asked: ‘Does it bother you that that Trump guy insults you all the time?’ as he would do just minutes later.
‘Oh, Mary Catherine, it’s very important to always remember: you should never let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are,’ Harris replied.
The pair then made some obvious Taylor Swift references.
‘Thank you “Mamala”,’ Gallagher called out on her way of screen
‘Remember one more thing: don’t worry if you make a mistake, because Catholic people are very forgiving,’ Gallagher said in one last bit of advice as she was finally dragged away by an assistant.
‘Thank you “Mamala”,’ she called out on her way of screen.
Harris finally began her actual speech two minutes and 15 seconds into the video, leaving little more than a minute of her solo.
The VP restated her call for bipartisanship, then praised the ‘tremendous charitable work of the Catholic Church’.
‘In the spirit of tonight’s dinner, let us recommit to reaching across divides to seek understanding and common ground,’ she said.
‘And in honor of the great Al Smith, let us fight to build a better future with faith in God, our country, and in each other.’
Harris critics and even some of her supporters were unimpressed by the video: ‘I thought the campaign couldn’t get worse, and then I saw this,’ one viewer wrote online.
The VP began seriously, calling the dinner ‘a rare opportunity to set aside partisanship’ before Gallagher interrupted her
‘Remember one more thing: don’t worry if you make a mistake, because Catholic people are very forgiving,’ Gallagher said in one last bit of advice as she was finally dragged away by an assistant
Another added: ‘Her “funny” choice to have Molly Shannon do the grossest character ever on SNL shocked me! NOT funny and not appropriate for that event. Kamala’s judgment is horrible. It was pathetic.’
A third wrote: ‘Kamala Harris has no sense of humor. She phoned it in because there there is no way in hell she could have pulled it off.’
Another viewer, who described themselves as a Trump supporter, pointed out that Harris had help to present the video, unlike if she made the speech.
‘I’m struck by how Kamala needed someone else as a crutch to do a simple video for the Al Smith Charity Dinner,’ they wrote’
Trump senior advisor Jason Miller claimed Harris’ video was ‘historically bad’ and Missouri senator Eric Schmitt called it a ‘mail-in effort’ that was ‘legit cringeworthy’.
Popular author John Pavlovitz was more complimentary.
‘Wow, this video of Kamala and Molly Shannon made for the Al Smith Dinner is gold!’ he wrote.
Another added: ‘I can’t love this more. Molly Shannon has always been hilarious, but add in Kamala Harris and they’re Superstars!’
A third gushed: ‘Molly Shannon is a comedy genius and Kamala Harris playing so easily with her is SO hard and she does it so naturally. Wonderful scene.’
Harris received loud boos from the Al Smith dinner audience when host Jim Gaffigan announced that she wouldn’t be there in person.
Gaffigan then got in some jabs of his own against Harris for not showing up, before handing over to Trump for his speech.
‘This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in NYC, this should be a layup for the Democratic nominee,’ he joked.
‘In her defense, she did find time to appear on The View, Howard Stern, Colbert, and the longtime staple of campaigning – the Call Her Daddy podcast.’
Gaffigan also made an impromptu joke about Harris’ video.
‘As I watch that I couldn’t help but think of, now I know how my kids felt when I FaceTime into a piano recital they were at,’ he said.
