WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence called his future successor, Kamala Harris, to congratulate him, according to two people familiar with the conversation.
It is the first known contact between the elected members of the outgoing and incoming administrations. President Donald Trump has not contacted President-elect Joe Biden or invited him to the White House, instead, it has been weeks since he lost the November 3 election ended at the White House, trying to undermine the legitimacy of Biden’s victory with unfounded allegations of mass electoral fraud that culminated in the violent invasion of the Capitol building last week.
Pence, who did not speak to Trump for days after the siege, became an unexpected – albeit late – defender of Biden’s victory. The vice president resisted Trump’s enormous pressure to try to interfere with Congressional certification of the Electoral College’s vote count last week – although he doesn’t have that power. And he announced that he will attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20, which Trump refuses to do – making him only the fourth president in the country’s history to skip the symbolic passing of the torch.
Pence and Harris spoke on Thursday afternoon and had a “good connection,” according to a person familiar with the conversation, with Pence congratulating Harris and offering his help. People spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private exchange.
The call came less than a week before Biden and Harris took office and just over a week after Trump supporters violently invaded the Capitol and tried to interrupt the peaceful transition of power after he gave a speech by asking them to “fight ”. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer, and Trump was accused of inciting an insurrection.
Although Trump has remained largely behind closed doors, without his Twitter megaphone and smoking since his loss, Pence has stepped up and fulfilled many of the presidential ceremonial functions.
On Thursday, Pence received an instruction from the FBI and other agencies at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters in Washington on the security of the inauguration and stopped to thank the White House telephone operators, giving them a framed letter of thanks. He later greeted members of the National Guard who were now protecting the Capitol building from further attacks.
This weekend, he will travel to thank the troops – first flying to Lemoore, California, to make comments to the sailors, and then to Fort Drum, New York, to speak to soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division, many of whom have recently returned from Afghanistan.
Pence was also the one who coordinated with lawmakers and the DC National Guard while the Capitol was under siege and he was in hiding. And last Friday, he called the family of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who was wounded in the attack.
Pence’s appeal to his successor is a continuation of the traditional show of courtesy between outgoing and incoming leaders, which Trump despises. 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 President’s residence on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory shortly before the 2009 opening.
And in November 2016, Biden, Pence and their spouses met for lunch at the Naval Observatory after a previous meeting at the White House.
“I told Mike, the vice president-elect, that I am available to him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Biden after the meeting. “I intend to be available to Mike as a senior team as he moves.”
It is not clear whether Pence will do the same for Harris. Pence and his wife will travel over the weekend. And much of Washington is under increased security after last week’s violent Capitol insurrection, with police officers warning of more potential for violence surrounding Biden’s tenure.
Although Biden said last week that he welcomed Trump’s decision to skip his inauguration, he said he would be “honored” to have Pence present.
“I think it is important,” he said, that, as far as possible, “historical precedents be maintained” with respect to the peaceful transfer of power.