Kamala Harris reveals what Trump said during call after Election night – she knew it was ‘a lost cause’

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has revealed new details about her phone conversation with President Donald Trump after she conceded the 2024 presidential election. The conversation is documented in her upcoming memoir 107 Days, which offers an inside look at her short-lived presidential campaign.

According to excerpts reviewed by The New York Times, Harris asked Trump during the call to help bring the country together. However, she knew in that moment it was “a lost cause.” The conversation took place the day after Election Night, when Trump’s vote share had surged ahead in key battleground states.

During the call, Trump told Harris, “I am going to be so nice and respectful.” He also said, “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.” Harris noted that Trump pronounced her name correctly during the call, after mispronouncing it while campaigning throughout the election season.

Harris reveals her first choice for running mate

The memoir also reveals that Harris had wanted Pete Buttigieg, the former Transportation Secretary, as her running mate instead of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Harris wrote that Buttigieg was her “first choice” but decided against him because she felt it would be “too big of a risk.”

“He would have been an ideal partner,” Harris wrote, “if I were a straight white man. But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk.”

Harris praised Buttigieg as “a sincere public servant with the rare talent of being able to frame liberal arguments in a way that makes it possible for conservatives to hear them.” She added, “I love Pete. I love working with Pete. He and his husband, Chasten, are friends.” Harris also expressed criticism of Walz’s debate performance, noting she was “mortified” watching him during the vice-presidential debate against JD Vance.

The technical difficulties during the concession call were also notable. According to another book, 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America, Harris’s aides had trouble connecting the call. They ended up “holding two phones together on speaker so that the rivals could talk.” Trump joked about the situation, saying “Phone service isn’t what it used to be.”Harris’s memoir 107 Days will be released by Simon & Schuster on September 23. The book documents her 107-day campaign that began after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in July 2024. Trump won the election with 312 electoral votes compared to Harris’s 226, making him only the second president in U.S. history to serve non-consecutive terms.