Vice President Kamala Harris certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the November 5, 2024 election.
Harris and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson presided over a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election on January 6, 2025.
In an awkward moment, Harris said, “The votes for president of the United States are as follows: Donald J. Trump, of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes.”
Congress erupted in cheers before Harris could certify her own vote tally: “Kamala D. Harris, of the state of California, has received 226 votes,” she said.
There were rumors that Harris would not certify the results of the election. Skeptics said that President Joe Biden would step down and allow Harris to become the first female president of the United States. Many believed she would not give up the presidency so easily.
On Monday, Harris said, “One of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.”
? #BREAKING: After Kamala Harris announced President Trump’s victory, Congress ERUPTED in cheers and applause
IT’S OFFICIAL!
PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS BEEN CERTIFIED! ?? pic.twitter.com/DIz375FgPf
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 6, 2025
VP Kamala Harris after certifying the electoral votes:
"One of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power."
She has more class in her pinky finger than Donald Trump has in his entire body. pic.twitter.com/f0szBYRlmX
— Art Candee ?? (@ArtCandee) January 6, 2025
U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) used a walker when she attended the joint session of Congress to ratify the 2024 Presidential election at the U.S. Capitol.
Pelosi fell down a marble staircase and broke her hip during an official visit to Luxembourg in mid-December. She was flown to an Army hospital in Germany where she underwent hip replacement surgery.
While recovering from surgery, Pelosi, 84, made phone calls to fellow Democrat lawmakers in the U.S. to reject 35-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from serving in a senior position on the House Oversight Committee.
Ocasio-Cortez is still planning to run for president in 2028.