Mike Pence calls Kamala Harris to congratulate him

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence called his future successor Kamala Harris to offer his congratulations, according to two people familiar with the conversation.

This is the first known contact between elected officials of outgoing and incoming administrations. President Donald Trump has not contacted President-elect Joe Biden and has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s victory.

But Pence has become an unexpected defender for Biden. The vice president resisted pressure from Trump to oppose the Democrat’s electoral victory while chairing Congress’ certification of the electoral vote tally last week.

Pence will also attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20, which Trump refuses to attend.

One of those familiar with the Thursday afternoon conversation described it as a ‘good call’, with Pence congratulating his successor and offering to help. They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private conversation.

The call came less than a week before Biden and Harris took office, and just over a week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

While Trump has remained largely behind closed doors, enraged since his loss, Pence stepped up and fulfilled many ceremonial duties of the presidency, including greeting members of the National Guard now protecting the Capitol building on Thursday night.

The call for his successor is a continuation of the traditional show of courtesy between outgoing and incoming leaders that Trump, on the other hand, has flouted. In 2008, then-Vice President Dick Cheney called Biden to congratulate him on the night of his victory and invited Biden and his wife Jill to visit the Vice Presidential Residence on the Observatory grounds. naval ship shortly before the 2009 inauguration.

It’s unclear if Pence will do the same for Harris. Much of Washington is under heightened security after last week’s violent insurgency on Capitol Hill, with law enforcement officials warning of greater potential for violence ahead of Biden’s inauguration.

While Biden said he welcomed Trump’s decision to avoid his inauguration, he also said he would be “honored” if Pence was present and that it was important to maintain a “precedent as much as possible. historic ”with regard to a peaceful transfer of power. .