Did Vice President Kamala Harris state that she would not be attending the presidential inauguration ceremony after Donald Trump’s historic win in the November 5, 2024 election? The strange claim has been doing the rounds on social media, with one post going viral in which Harris appears to claim that she will skip Trump’s inauguration ceremony after.
Social media users have since been trying to find out the truth behind the viral claim. However, there is no truth in the wild claim as Harris hasn’t said anything like that after conceding defeat on Wednesday night. Since losing to her Republican contender, the Vice President has spoken in public only once.
Weird Claim
The viral claim of Harris saying that she won’t attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony was first shared on X hours after Trump was announced as the winner of the November 5 election, making him the 47th president.
The U.S. government does not include a “presidential induction ceremony,” as the post on X called it, in its official list of American holidays. The post likely refers to the 2025 presidential inauguration, held every four years to swear in the newly elected president and vice president.
The claim is completely false as Harris never made such comments after Trump’s win. Instead, she made a phone call to Trump to concede defeat and promised him to help in a smooth transition of power.
Harris delivered her concession speech on November 6, 2024, at Howard University. The event was live-streamed by C-SPAN, and at the 5:18 mark Harris said: “Earlier today, I spoke with president-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition. And that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”
Completely False and Baseless
Harris’ aide earlier confirmed that the Vice President spoke to Trump over phone but there was not mention of her skipping his inauguration. “She discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans,” a senior Harris aide said.
As of November 6, 2024, there was no evidence on Harris’s social media profiles (Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok) indicating that she announced plans to skip the 2025 inauguration.
Also, multiple searches were conducted on Google News for recent articles mentioning “Kamala Harris” and “not attending Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration” and found no reliable sources confirming the accuracy of this claim.