Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reportedly turned down an invitation to speak at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner to appear on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” but the nation’s largest LGBT group didn’t turn to Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) as either a first or second choice, according to his campaign.

A Sanders spokesperson told the Washington Blade late Saturday the candidate did not receive an invite to speak at the 19th annual dinner or any other earlier dinner hosted by the organization.

“We don’t know of any time Bernie was invited to an HRC dinner,” said Sanders spokesperson Michael Briggs when the Washington Blade asked if an invite was extended.

Asked if the campaign objected to the lack of an invitation to the dinner, Briggs replied, “I don’t have anything to help on that.”

Briggs said he “can’t really say” if Sanders would have attended the HRC dinner had the candidate received an invite given the other events on the schedule.

“So many competing things tugging for his time,” Briggs said. “We’re in Boston tonight at a big rally. Are there 20,000 at the dinner?”

According to media reports, Sanders was set to hold rallies in Massachusetts on the same day as the HRC dinner. The candidate reportedly has drawn up to 19,000 people to attend his rallies. An estimated 3,500 people were set to attend the HRC dinner.

When the Blade pointed out the estimated 3,500 attendees, Briggs replied, “That’s huge too.”

Brandon Lorenz, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, said presidential candidates will be able to speak about LGBT rights to the organization at other times.

“We hope to hear from all the pro-equality presidential candidates,” Lorenz said. “Our national dinner will not be the forum for that, but we have already reached out to each of the declared candidates with our official questionnaire and anticipate creating opportunities for pro-equality candidates to speak to HRC about their positions and plans to advance LGBT equality.”

A source familiar with HRC, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said Clinton was first invited to the 2016 dinner a year ago, which was before Sanders entered the race for the White House.

On the same day as the dinner, Clinton enjoyed a media bump and support from HRC President Chad Griffin at an earlier event hosted by the organization in which she laid out her LGBT vision, which includes passing the Equality Act, transgender visibility and addressing health disparities facing LGBT people. HRC hasn’t yet endorsed a candidate in the presidential race.

According to the New York Times, HRC invited Clinton to speak at the national dinner, but she opted instead for an earlier event so she could appear on “Saturday Night Live” on the same evening the dinner took place. Vice President Joseph Biden was instead announced as the keynote speaker for the event.

Clinton continues to lead Sanders in national polls, but he’s the candidate closest to her among other Democrats. According to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll published on Thursday, Clinton is supported by 41 percent, followed by Sanders at 23 percent and Biden at 20 percent. Sanders tops Clinton in some polls for the early caucus state of Iowa and in many polls for the early primary state of New Hampshire.