Things will be different for this election year staple, per the AP:
President Donald Trump is expected to be in virtual attendance Oct. 1 as New York City’s annual Al Smith Dinner moves mostly online because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers said.
Trump has accepted an invitation to return to the dinner for the first time in four years. Organizers said they anticipate his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, will attend as well.
But Biden’s campaign hasn’t confirmed he will attend the event.
The white-tie Al Smith Dinner, which raises funds for Catholic Charities, is usually held at a Manhattan hotel on the third Thursday in October. A scaled down, in-person event for 50 people at a public garden in the Bronx was scrapped after state officials raised virus safety concerns.
This year’s virtual dinner will originate from multiple locations, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan presiding from the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in Manhattan and opera singer Nadine Sierra performing the National Anthem from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
