Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the preparations, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s transition. POLITICO Pro subscribers receive a version of this newsletter first. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren | Email Lisa | Email Megan KAMALA HARRIS isn’t the first vice president to take on the uncomfortable task of certifying their own election loss — RICHARD NIXON and AL GORE did it, too. But for Harris, the job was perhaps even more fraught. This afternoon, she presided over the ceremonial concession of her loss to a man who refused to do the same when she and JOE BIDEN won the presidential election four years ago and instead — on today’s now infamous date — urged his supporters to march on the Capitol in an attack that almost derailed the peaceful transition of power. Not only that, but she, along with Republican and Democratic members of Congress alike, surmounted a half foot of freshly fallen snow that brought the rest of Washington to a halt. For roughly a half hour this afternoon, Harris stood at the dais, alongside a seated Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, as the results of the election were read aloud state by state. Then, she had to verbalize her own loss to DONALD TRUMP. “The votes for president of the United States are as follows: Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes,” she said, pausing briefly, nodding as Republican members of Congress gave a standing ovation at the Trump win. “Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.” “This announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States,” she concluded. Trump, in a post on Truth Social before the certification, called it “a big moment in history.” Longtime Harris ally DONNA BRAZILE told West Wing Playbook that the moment, until 2021 considered all but a formality of the electoral process, made her “so proud to be an American.” “Win or lose, we must be committed to upholding our nation’s institutions and democratic values, especially the peaceful transfer of power. What Trump did four years ago was dishonorable but the majority of voters simply saw him as the change candidate,” she said. “Whatever feelings or thoughts that I may have about the results of the last election, it’s important to remember that we are a country of laws. The U.S. Constitution and the rule of law truly matters. I am so proud of her as she sets the example of American leadership. Nothing else matters.” It was a point Harris herself underscored in brief remarks to reporters after the certification Monday afternoon. “Today, I did what I have done my entire career, which is take seriously the oath that I have taken many times to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” she said. “I do believe very strongly that America's democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.” “Today, America's democracy stood,” she added. Monday’s events were in most ways opposite of the chaos four years ago, happening under the quiet calm of a Washington brought to heel by a winter storm. But they were reminiscent of the posture taken by former Vice President MIKE PENCE. He faced nearly unimaginable pressure from both Trump and his supporters — who not only stormed the Capitol but erected a gallows and noose outside of it, chanting “hang Mike Pence” — yet he certified the Biden-Harris win and the Trump-Pence loss. Pence was himself inspired as a young lawmaker by the peaceful transition Gore oversaw in 2001 after a five-week war over the presidential election results and a nightmare Florida recount that made its way to the Supreme Court. Biden, in an op-ed in the Washington Post on Sunday evening, voiced support for the peaceful transition of power — underscoring that he would attend Trump’s inauguration and be there to greet him at the White House on the morning of Jan. 20 — while also urging Americans not to forget the insurrection. For Democrats who warned for months that Trump was a danger to democracy, allowing the election certification to go ahead without even a brief contest marked the fulfillment of their promise to uphold the basic American tenet of a peaceful transfer of power. “If [Harris] had won, this would be a very different day. She would be sitting in the same seat, but there would likely be rioters pounding at the doors of this building,” said Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.). “So, I just think it’s a sad day not just because my preferred candidate lost, but because it’s a reminder of how fragile our democracy is that some people are taking today’s normalness for granted.” MESSAGE US — Are you MIKE PENCE? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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