In an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she is preparing for the possibility of former President Donald Trump declaring victory before votes are counted next month.
Sitting in her official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Harris said her campaign is prepared for the possibility of the Republican former president trying to subvert the election, but she is focused on defeating him first.
“We will deal with election night and the days afterward as they come, and we have the resources, the expertise and the focus to do so,” Harris said.
When pressed about the possibility that Trump will try to declare victory before votes are counted and a winner is projected by news networks and other media outlets, Harris said she was concerned.
“This is an individual, Donald Trump, who tried to overturn the free and fair election, who continues to deny the will of the people who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol. This is a serious matter,” Harris said, referring to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where Trump supporters tried to prevent the recognition of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
Trump refused to concede that election, falsely insisting that a vast conspiracy to commit voter fraud had stolen it from him.
“The American people are being presented with a very, very serious decision right now, two weeks out, about what the future of our country will be,” Harris added.
Trump has been claiming for months that the election was rigged against him, without evidence, and pointing the finger at a host of institutions and people he claims are meddling, telling his supporters that he must win by a margin that ‘too big to manipulate’.
Experts have warned that Trump’s efforts to sow doubts now could be used to push supporters to seize power in the days after the election by claiming the election was invalid.
With just two weeks to go, Harris and Trump are in a dead heat, with opinion polls showing a neck-and-neck race, both nationally and in the seven key battleground states.
Harris has stepped up her involvement with the news media after a period of limited interview availability in the weeks following her ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket in July.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
