Vice President Kamala Harris, who was booed after becoming first presidential candidate in nearly four decades to skip New York City’s prestigious Al Smith charity dinner, has more trouble coming her way. Her cover up video message played out at the event is being called disrespectful towards Catholics.
Harris’s video featured SNL’s irreverent character Mary Katherine Gallagher, played by Shannon, who sloganeered that “it’s time for a woman to be in charge” after sniffing her armpits—a choice that some viewed as tone-deaf for the traditionally respectful event.
Harris didn’t stop there; she took multiple swipes at former President Donald Trump, mocking his continued election denialism.
“So tell me something, I’m giving a speech. Do you have some thoughts about what I might say tonight?” Harris asks Shannon in the video.
Shannon’s advice included, “Don’t lie. Thou shall not bear false witness to thy neighbor.”
“Indeed, especially thy neighbour’s election results,” Harris smirked.
But it was her response to a warning not to criticize Catholics that sent shockwaves through the crowd. When Shannon advised, “Don’t say anything negative about Catholics,” Harris shot back, “I would never do that no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit”—a clear jab at Trump’s recent remarks disparaging the city.
The line, intended to land a laugh, instead struck a nerve.
The backlash was swift and intense. Attendees at the dinner were visibly uncomfortable, and social media quickly erupted with outrage. “Her quoting the Scripture is blasphemy,” one user fumed. Another added, “Making a mockery of Catholics? Disgusting.” A third slammed the video as “a terrible waste of 3 1/2 minutes of my life,” calling it “not funny and full of disingenuous crap.”
Critics also pointed to Harris’s controversial past dealings with Catholic groups, such as her combative stance towards the Knights of Columbus, suggesting that her choice to appear via video was no accident. “Her behavior towards Catholics is precisely why she hid behind a screen instead of showing up in person,” another detractor commented.
