WATCH LIVE: Trump speaks at Al Smith’s charity dinner in NYC, with remarks from Harris via recorded video

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will trade the rally stage for comedy Thursday night when he headlines the annual Al Smith charity dinner, where he was ridiculed eight years ago when he delivered a particularly pointed speech held.

The event is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. EDT. Watch it live in the player above.

Vice President Kamala Harris is not attending the event in person because she is campaigning in battleground states, breaking with presidential tradition. But she will appear on screen in a recorded video, organizers said.

WATCH LIVE: Harris is holding campaign events in Wisconsin

The white-tie dinner in New York raises millions of dollars for Catholic Charities and traditionally offers candidates from both parties a chance to exchange light-hearted remarks and show they can handle the election – or at least pretend to – for one night Final spurt.

It is often the last time the two nominees share a stage before Election Day.

Trump will be joined at the dinner by his wife, Melania, who was a rare presence on the campaign trail, according to a seating chart shared by organizers.

Also expected on stage is New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the civil fraud case against Trump, which he lost.

Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment about her plans, but her team had previously said they should spend as much time as possible campaigning in the battleground states that will decide the election, rather than making a detour into that to make New York strongly democratic. Her team has told organizers that if she wins, she would be willing to take part as president.

The Daily Caller was first to report that Harris would address dinner via screen.

Trump condemned Harris for her refusal to participate and accused her of being anti-Catholic in a social media post. “Every Catholic who votes for Comrade Kamala Harris should have their head examined,” he wrote.

That was the kind of tone that drew boos in 2016, when Trump appeared at dinner with his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and gave a particularly nasty speech in which he called her “corrupt” and accused her of “pretending.” they don’t hate Catholics.”

Trump’s 2016 speech, delivered the evening after their final debate, had begun on a less hostile note.

Trump joked that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., loved him when he was a Democrat. After noting that such dinner remarks usually start with a self-deprecating joke, he joked that he’s “actually a humble person.”

One of his best lines of the night came at his wife’s expense when he complained that the media was biased against him.

“You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it – it’s amazing. They think they are absolutely amazing. “My wife Melania gives the exact same speech and people get on her case,” he joked, referring to her convention speech this year, parts of which were plagiarized.

But Trump’s comments soon turned bitter as he turned to the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state and he praised “the miracle of WikiLeaks” for its revelations.

“Hillary believes it is important to deceive people by pursuing one public policy and a completely different private policy,” he said mockingly. “For example, she’s here tonight, in public, pretending she doesn’t hate Catholics.”

Clinton also spoke out personally, pointing out that for most Americans, the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of hope for immigrants.

“Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a ‘4,’” Clinton joked. “Maybe a ‘5’ if she loses the flashlight and tablet and changes her hairstyle.”

Trump’s sense of humor is often cited by his supporters as key to his appeal. While he scowled at former President Obama’s jokes at his expense during the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he also sometimes pokes fun at himself.

At several rallies this year, he made comments about his hair after catching a glimpse of himself on screen.

“What the hell can you do? I can’t do anything about it. We’re sticking with it,” he joked at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, last month.

Both Trump and President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, spoke at a virtual version of the fundraiser in 2020, which was moved online due to concerns about large gatherings at the height of the pandemic. Both candidates used their speeches not to tell jokes but to appeal to Catholic voters. Biden spoke about how his faith got him through moments of tragedy, and Trump highlighted his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who features prominently at the dinner, delivered a message to both men about the upcoming election. “I also dare you to remind them that Al Smith was a happy warrior, that he was never a sore loser,” he said.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner is named after the former governor of New York, a Democrat who became the first Catholic to receive a major party presidential nomination when he ran unsuccessfully for the White House in 1928.

The event has become a tradition for presidential candidates since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger Bob Dole, ostensibly because Clinton vetoed a ban on late-term abortions.