Harris called Trump to congratulate him on his election victory

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris called the elected president Donald Trump on Wednesday to acknowledge the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a senior adviser to the vice president.

The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity during the private conversation, said Harris spoke about the need for a peaceful transition of power.

Harris, once seen as the potential savior of the Democratic Party after Joe Biden The re-election campaign has stalled, and we have to reckon with deep aversion American voters in this year’s presidential election.

She got involved every battlefield state To Donald Trumpa man she called an existential danger to the country’s founding institutions. And Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three White House campaigns – even after two impeachments, criminal charges and his attempt to overturn his previous election defeat.

Harris planned to give her concession speech Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office said. She will speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched the election results Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as Trump pulled ahead in battleground states.

It’s a bitter footnote for Harris: As the sitting vice president, she is expected to oversee the congressional certification ceremony.

Mike Pence played the same role four years ago when Trump ordered his supporters to march on the US Capitol. Although critics said violent uprising crystallized Trump’s threat to American democracy, which ultimately did not stop voters from electing him again.

Harris became the Democratic nominee after Biden, who was already struggling to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86, failed in his debate with Trump on June 27.

He dropped out of the race July 21 and supported her vice president, who quickly united the Democratic Party around his candidacy.

It was a remarkable twist of fate for Harris. Four years ago, her own presidential campaign broke out and exposed the political limitations of the man once called “female Barack Obama.” Even though Biden selected Harris as his running mate, she has languished in the role since taking office as the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Some Democrats began to write her off as they contemplated the party’s future after Biden. But Harris found new purpose after The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. in 2022 and has become a leading advocate for abortion rights in the White House.

Harris has also made a more concerted effort to reach out to local politicians, business leaders and cultural figures, forging connections that could help her in the future.

The moment came sooner than she expected, and she was thrown into the presidential race after Biden pulled out just a month before the Democratic National Convention.

Harris instantly reset the competition conditions with Trump. She was 18 years younger and a former prosecutor in the trial against the first major presidential candidate to be convicted of crimes. Her candidacy energizes Democrats who feared they were destined for defeat with Biden leading the field.

But she also faced enormous difficulties from the very beginning. She inherited Biden’s politics with just 107 days left in the election and faces a restive electorate hungry for change.

Although Harris proposed a “new way forward,” she struggled differentiate yourself meaningfully from an unpopular incumbent. She also had limited time to introduce herself to skeptical voters who never voted for her in the presidential primary.

Democrats now face the prospect of picking up the pieces during a second Trump presidency, and it’s unclear what role Harris will play in her party’s future.

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