Four years ago, then-outgoing President Donald Trump urged supporters to “Fight like hell” as Congress officially declared his opponent, Joe Biden, the 2020 presidential race winner.
Trump’s comments helped incite the storming of Capital Hill on that day, January 6.
Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris took a very different approach in the capital on Monday, January 6 2025.
As is one of her duties as Vice President, she formally certified Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election race during a joint session of lawmakers, calmly and respectfully sharing the final electoral college vote numbers.
“The votes for president of the United States are as follows: Donald J Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.”
She was interrupted by cheers from Republicans in the house as she read the count number for Trump and later again when she did so for Vance.
But she was also then cheered by Democrats, as she noted the 226 vote count for herself, and later again for her VP nominee Tim Walz.
“This announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the person elected president and vice president of the United States,” Harris said.
They will officially start their presidency on January 20, following their inauguration.
This announcement of the Vance fist-bumped Senator Bill Cassidy following the declaration, while Harris turned and shook hands with speaker Mike Johnson.
Both Harris and Vance shook hands with House members across parties as they entered the chamber, while Republican and Democrat Senators also shared handshakes as they entered.
The applause for both Trump and Vance’s vote count that interrupted Harris while she was reading the numbers must have hurt.
But she was dignified in her response. She nodded to the house, paused to allow the applause, and continued.
Later, Harris told reporters that “democracy had stood” in the United States today.
“Today was obviously a very important day, and it was about what should be the norm and what the American people should never take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power,” she said.
“Today, I’ve done what I’ve done my entire career, which is take seriously the oath that I’ve taken many times to support and defend the constitution of the United States, which included today performing my constitutional duties to ensure that the voters of America will have their votes counted. That those votes matter. And that determines the outcome of an election.
And while she did call for supporters to “fight like hell” over the result as Trump once did, she called for a different cause for fighting — to protect the country’s democracy.
“I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it,” she said.
“Every single person. Their willingness to fight for and respect the importance of our democracy. Otherwise, it is very fragile and will not be able to withstand moments of crisis. Today, America’s democracy stood.”
Harris earlier shared a video message, released before the certification process.
“The peaceful transfer of power is one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy. As much as any other principle, it is what distinguishes our system of government from monarchy or tyranny,” she said.