According to the New York Times on the 15th, Vice President Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the 14th local time to congratulate her and said that he would provide relevant assistance for the handover.
According to other sources, Trump plans to fly out of Washington soon before Biden is officially sworn in next week (January 20).
Pence’s conversation with Harris was reportedly described as a kind and pleasant conversation. And this is the first conversation between Pence and Harris since the debate last fall.
However, in contrast, the New York Times said that Trump refused to call President-elect Biden and has not even fully admitted his election defeat so far.
The New York Times quoted an official as revealing that Pence and his wife Karen may send Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff to the vice presidential residence before the inauguration ceremony next Wednesday.
However, the report pointed out that these plans are still uncertain, in part because some “security threats” to Washington have made the relevant schedule unstable.
In addition, according to people familiar with the matter, Trump has kept a low profile since supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6.
According to the report, Trump is expected to leave the White House on the morning of Biden’s inauguration.
Trump reportedly planned to take off from Andrews Air Force Base before Biden took office.
The New York Times believes that for the most volatile presidency in history, the move means a “relatively low-key ending”.
However, although the plan is still changing, the New York Times quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that “Trump hopes to start from the red carpet and with military honor” amid the noisy music of a military band.
People familiar with the matter also said that Trump has been very cautious about giving up the spotlight to others.
He was expected to give a farewell speech or rally in his hometown Florida after landing, but recent events (referring to congressional riots) made neither of these options unlikely to occur.
“Since Trump began to question President-elect Biden’s victory on election night, when and how he left has been a matter of concern.” The New York Times wrote that Trump’s “last contempt for the rules” was his refusal to attend Biden’s swearing-in ceremony, and Trump would become the first outgoing president to “snob” the inauguration since the 1860s.
Normally, outgoing and incoming “First Family” will meet at the White House on the morning of the inauguration ceremony.
But the Pence family will attend the inauguration ceremony in accordance with the tradition of the “second family” in the past.
Biden previously said that Pence’s presence (inauguration ceremony) would be an important symbol of the peaceful transfer of power.
It is worth mentioning that Trump has not said anything to his Vice President Pence in public since the congressional riots, until the two broke out last week.
After the riots, Pence returned to the Senate on the 6th to preside over the meeting of the Congressional Electoral College and supervised the completion of the relevant certification process for the Electoral College votes.
In the following days, he attended law enforcement briefings on security threats and made a temporary visit to the Capitol to express his gratitude to the soldiers stationed there. ↓
