Washington: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris dismissed the prospect of a rematch against President Donald Trump, who’s been signaling he could run again in 2024 if he can’t reverse the results of this month’s vote.
Speaking to reporters at a holiday market in Washington, Harris made a scoffing sound when asked whether she and President-elect Joe Biden would be prepared to run against Trump again, according to the pool report.
“Please,” she said, and laughed before thanking reporters and walking off.
Trump recently has begun shifting focus away from his long-shot efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 race and toward a bid for the Republican nomination in the next election.
Bloomberg News reported this week that Trump told Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien in a Nov. 13 Oval Office meeting that he intends to run in 2024 if he isn’t able to reverse Biden’s win.
O’Brien responded that he backs the president “100 percent,” while Pompeo and Pence, both of whom have been mentioned as possible 2024 Republican hopefuls, smiled but said nothing, according to two people briefed on the conversation.
Biden, at 78, will be the oldest president sworn into office, putting increased scrutiny on Harris, 56.
Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results have failed so far. There’s no evidence of widespread fraud, and he’s lost nearly every court case attempting to challenge the results across a number of battleground states. On Friday in Pennsylvania, a three-judge panel consisting entirely of Republicans — including one appointed by Trump — rejected the president’s legal team’s attempt to overturn the state’s election certification.
–With assistance from Jennifer Jacobs. -Bloomberg
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