It’s not a job that would have been on her to-do list, but gracious Kamala Harris put on a brave face Monday — and even a broad smile — when she faced the certification of her defeat against Donald Trump in November. Was presiding. presidential election.
The U.S. Constitution requires that the Vice President – in his secondary role as President of the Senate – take over the role when Congress holds its joint session to formally tally the Electoral College votes and name the new President. .
However, the task may be more painful and unpleasant for politicians and women like Harris who ultimately have to act to vindicate their electoral failure.
But Harris’s generosity couldn’t be more contrasting to Trump’s response to his loss to Joe Biden in 2020.
He received a standing ovation when he read out his vote total, before declaring that the official count “will be considered sufficient declaration” for Trump to be sworn into office on January 20.
Harris conceded defeat on time in November, unlike Trump in 2020, when she pressured government officials and members of Congress to overturn her defeat — leaving herself facing impeachment and federal impeachment.
His claims prompted his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to prevent lawmakers from certifying his defeat to Joe Biden two months earlier.
Harris, a former prosecutor, did not engage in the baseless claims of voter fraud that Trump has been repeating to this day and did not make any legal claims, echoing dozens of frivolous lawsuits filed by Trump’s allies in 2020.
It was during the ceremony that he made polite small talk with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and, afterward, hosted a press conference to argue for the peaceful transfer of power as a core principle of American democracy.
“I believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for every single person, our willingness to fight for them and respect the importance of our democracy,” Harris told reporters.
“Otherwise, it is too fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis. And today, America’s democracy stood up.”
Harris lost all swing states to Trump, but lost the popular vote by less than 1.5 percent, making it one of the closest elections in American history.
She has not revealed what she plans to do next, but she has been pressured by allies to run for re-election in 2028 or seek the governorship of her home state of California.
Harris is not the first vice president to preside over the certification of her own election defeat.
Richard Nixon in 1960 and Al Gore in 2000 faced similar difficult tasks after close, contentious elections and they performed their duty with the same grace as Harris, earning a standing ovation from members of both parties.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
