WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his election victory, a senior Harris aide said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the call.
The aide said Harris discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power with Trump ahead of her planned concession speech Wednesday afternoon, scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.
With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. He won Michigan on Wednesday afternoon, sweeping the “blue wall” along with Pennsylvania — the one-time Democrat-leaning, swing states that all went for Trump in 2016 before flipping to President Joe Biden in 2020.
The victory validates his bare-knuckles approach to politics. He attacked Harris in deeply personal – often misogynistic and racist – terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants. The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters – particularly men – in a deeply polarized nation.
“I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president,” Trump told throngs of cheering supporters in Florida even before his victory was confirmed.
In state after state, Trump outperformed what he did in the 2020 election while Harris failed to do as well as Biden did in winning the presidency four years ago.
“We’ve been through so much together, and today you showed up in record numbers to deliver a victory,” Trump said. “This was something special and we’re going to pay you back,” he said.