Kamala Harris gracious in defeat as Congress certifies Trump's win

It is not a job that she would have had on her bucket list, but a gracious Kamala Harris put on a brave face and even a broad grin on Monday as she presided over the certification of her defeat to Donald Trump in November's presidential election.

- Agencies

WASHINGTON:

The US Constitution requires that vice presidents - in their secondary role as president of the Senate - run the show when Congress holds its joint session to formally tally electoral college votes and name the new president.

The task can be more painful and unpleasant, though, for those statesmen and women such as Harris who end up having to officiate at the confirmation of their own electoral failure.

But Harris's magnanimity could not have been in sharper contrast to Trump's reaction to his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020.

She beamed as she received a standing ovation on reading out her vote total, before declaring that the official count "shall be deemed a sufficient declaration" for Trump to take his oath of office on January 20.

Harris had accepted defeat in November in a timely manner, unlike Trump in 2020, when he pressured government officials and members of Congress to reverse his defeat - earning himself impeachment and federal indictment.

His claims spurred his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a violent bid to stop lawmakers from certifying his loss two months earlier to Joe Biden.