Vice President Kamala Harris said she believes her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is “capable of anything” in terms of seeking to interfere with the results of next month's election, citing his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
But her team is "ready" to respond, she said.
"I think he is capable of anything, as proven by what he did on Jan. 6," Harris told ABC News in a brief interview while on the campaign trail on Wednesday when asked if she is concerned Trump will try to interfere with the certification of results.
"No president of the United States, former president of the United States, who lost an election would ever have done and never did, or even come close to what Donald Trump did On Jan. 6,” she added.
At the same time, she told ABC News that her team is “prepared to respond” should the former president seek to “manipulate the consensus of the American people.”
"We are, sadly, ready," Harris said, if Trump challenges the results. "And if we know that he is manipulating the press and attempting to manipulate the consensus of the American people based on fiction instead of facts, we're prepared to respond."
Harris said similar in an interview earlier this month, telling NBC News that her campaign is prepared if Trump prematurely declares victory on Election Day next week.
“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,” Harris said. “This is a serious matter.”
Trump has refused to acknowledge his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, baselessly claiming cheating took place despite no evidence of widespread fraud in the election. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, a statement backed up by officials in both parties, including Trump's own Attorney General William Barr. Cases brought by Trump and his allies claiming fraud were rejected from courts nationwide, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
The former president has since called Jan. 6, 2021, in which some of his supporters stormed the Capitol to interrupt the certification of Biden's win, a “beautiful day" and a "day of love."
In the closing days of her campaign, Harris has leaned into highlighting her opponent's actions on Jan. 6 and comments from some of his former staffers – such as his longest-serving chief of staff John Kelly, who recently said Trump fits the definition of a fascist – to paint the former president as a danger to democracy. (Trump has rebuffed Kelly's allegations and called him a "lowlife," among other things.)