When Kamala Harris Called Trump to Concede, His Reaction Stunned Her Staff: Book

In a revealing account from Chris Whipple’s book Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History, a staffer close to Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly labeled former President Donald Trump a “sociopath” following his seemingly warm tone during a concession call after the 2024 election.

Harris delayed her concession until the day after Election Day, once it was evident she had suffered a decisive loss. During the call, as cited in a Daily Mail excerpt, Harris told Trump, “I’m calling to concede. It was a fair election. The peaceful transfer of power is important. It’s important to the country.” She added, “I hope you’re a president for all Americans.”

Whipple recounts that Trump responded with casual friendliness, “bantering as though he were on the golf course.” He complimented Harris, calling her “great” and remarking, “You’re a tough cookie. You were really great. And that Doug — what a character! I love that guy,” referring to her husband, Doug Emhoff.

One of Harris’s aides was reportedly taken aback by Trump’s tone, describing it as “odd and inappropriate.” According to the book, the aide said, “I was like, what? Honestly, I felt like, what is this? It’s so manipulative. He’s a sociopath.”

A separate excerpt highlighted by the New York Post mentioned technical difficulties that initially complicated setting up the call. Whipple wrote that upon hearing Trump’s voice, Harris “felt the weight of the crushing defeat.”

Meanwhile, a section of the book shared by The Guardian shifts focus to internal frustrations within President Biden’s camp ahead of his widely criticized June debate performance. Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain reportedly expressed concern about Biden’s preparation, noting that he “didn’t know what Trump had been saying and couldn’t grasp what the back and forth was.” According to Whipple, Biden opted to skip part of his prep for a nap by the pool.

Klain was said to be alarmed by how detached Biden appeared from the current political climate, describing him as “out of touch with American politics.” He even remarked that Biden was so focused on diplomatic affairs, especially NATO, that he “wondered half-seriously if Biden thought he was president of NATO instead of the U.S.”

Whipple also wrote that Biden’s strategy during the debate was to appear confused in hopes that voters would interpret Trump as nonsensical. However, Klain pushed back on that logic, reportedly telling Biden, “Sir, when you look perplexed, people just think you’re perplexed. And this is our problem in this race.”