Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that her campaign is prepared to fight former President Donald Trump if he contests the election results.
In an interview with NBC News, Ms. Harris said she is trying to beat Mr. Trump at the ballot box, but her team is strategizing to deal with any effort to subvert the election results after Nov. 5.
“We will deal with election night and the days after as they come, and we have the resources and expertise to focus on that,” she said.
When pressed on the possibility that Mr. Trump would prematurely declare victory before the votes are counted or a winner is declared, Ms. Harris said she is worried.
“This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo the free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol, and 140 law enforcement officers were attacked, some who were killed. This is a serious matter,” she said, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
No law enforcement officers were killed during the Jan. 6 riot, though four officers who responded to the riot have since died by suicide, and one died of a stroke that the D.C. medical examiner ruled was death by natural causes.
Mr. Trump refused to concede the results of the 2020 election, insisting that it had been stolen. Mr. Trump has acknowledged that he did lose the election but later dismissed that talk as “being sarcastic.”
“The American people are, at this point, two weeks out, being presented with a very, very serious decision about what will be the future of our country,” Ms. Harris said.
She said that’s why her supporters need to come out in droves so this election is “too big to rig.”
However, polls show the election is a dead heat in the seven swing states.
Ms. Harris also told NBC News that she thinks America is ready for a woman of color in the White House.
“I think part of what is important in this election is really not only turning the page but closing the page and the chapter on an era that suggests that Americans are divided,” she said.
If elected, Ms. Harris would be the first woman president in U.S. history and only the second Black president. She said she’s not concerned about sexism or racism stopping her.
“I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race, instead, that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to address challenges and to inspire people,” she said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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