In an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said she's preparing for the possibility that former President Donald Trump declares victory before the votes are counted next month.
Sitting down at her official residence in the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Harris said that her campaign is prepared for the possibility that the Republican former president tries to subvert the election, but that she's focused on trying to beat him first.
"We will deal with election night and the days after as they come, and we have the resources and the expertise and the focus on that," Harris said.
When pressed on the possibility that Trump will try to declare victory before the votes are counted and a winner is projected by the news networks and other media outlets, Harris said she is concerned.
"This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo the free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol, and 140 law enforcement officers were attacked, some who were killed. This is a serious matter," Harris said, referring to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol where Trump supporters tried to prevent the certification 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, at this point, two weeks out, being presented with a very, very serious decision about what will be the future of our country," Harris added.
Trump has for months been claiming the election is rigged against him, without evidence, and pointed the finger at a host of institutions and people whom he claims are interfering, telling supporters he needs to win by a margin "too big to rig."
Experts have cautioned that Trump's attempts to sow seeds of doubt now could be used to gin up supporters in the days after the election to try to seize power by claiming the election was invalid.
With just two weeks to go, Harris and Trump are locked in a dead heat, with polls showing a neck-and-neck race both nationally and in the seven key battleground states
Harris has been stepping up her engagement with the news media after a period of limited availability interviews in the weeks following her ascension to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket in July.
