Fact Check: Did Trump privately praise Kamala Harris after 2024 election?
WASHINGTON, DC: Kamala Harris has claimed in her upcoming memoir that Donald Trump called her a “tough, smart customer” after she lost the 2024 election.
The former Vice President offered new details of her concession phone call with President-elect Trump in her forthcoming memoir '107 Days', slated for release on September 23.
Kamala Harris’ version of post-election call with Donald Trump
The former vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee reportedly painted a very different picture of her post-election concession call with Trump in her book.
According to excerpts reviewed by The New York Times, Harris wrote that she urged Trump to help heal the nation. Instead, she quickly realized it was “a lost cause.”
But Trump, she claimed, suddenly flipped the script.
“I am going to be so nice and respectful. You are a tough, smart customer, and I say that with great respect. And you also have a beautiful name. I got use of that name, it’s Kamala,” Trump allegedly told her.
She also noted that Trump correctly pronounced her name for once.
Fact Check: Donald Trump denies calling Kamala Harris a 'tough, smart customer'
Trump wasted no time disputing the claim. In a sit-down with Fox News’ Peter Doocy for the debut of 'The Sunday Briefing', he denied ever calling Harris a “tough, smart customer.”
“[I didn’t call her that] that I know of, but I was nice to her,” Trump clarified.
Still, he admitted he had “met her a couple of times” and was “always nice to her.”
“I thought Kamala would have done a better job than she did in terms of running, because we really won by a lot. And I thought she would have done better,” Trump added.
Kamala Harris recalls another revealing exchange with Donald Trump
Harris also claimed in her memoir that she had another notable conversation with Trump during the campaign.
After a Florida man was arrested for allegedly trying to attack Trump while he was golfing in September—just months after Trump survived a shooting at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally—Harris said she called him.
Trump had already blamed her and Joe Biden’s “rhetoric” for fueling violence.
“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” Trump had said at the time.
But Harris wrote that their private call ended with Trump promising to tone down his words. “I’m going to tone it down,” Trump allegedly told her. “I will. You’re going to see.”
Harris claimed Trump even showered her with unexpected compliments. “You’ve done a great job, you really have. My only problem is it makes it very hard to be angry at you. It’s like, what am I going to do? How do I say bad things about you now?” he allegedly remarked..
Kamala Harris reveals why she did not choose Pete Buttigieg as running mate
Harris also shed light on her campaign strategy after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. She wrote that her top choice for running mate was former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but she feared voters might not embrace a ticket featuring both a Black woman and a gay man.
“He would have been an ideal partner if I were a straight white man,” she wrote.
Buttigieg was not impressed when he learned of her reasoning. “My experience in politics has been that the way you earn trust with voters is based mostly on what they think you’re going to do for their lives, not on categories,” he told Politico, adding that he prefers to “give Americans more credit.”
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