Kamala Harris applauds Mitch McConnell for accepting election results and speaking with Biden but said it would have 'been better if it were earlier'

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks as she and President-elect Joe Biden introduce their nominees and appointees to key national security and foreign policy posts at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware on November 24, 2020.

Carolyn Kaster/AP Photos

• Vice President-elect Kamala Harris "applauded" Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for speaking with President-elect Joe Biden,
• Harris said she wished that the conversation between Biden and McConnell happened earlier, "but it happened, and that's what's most important."
• McConnell officially congratulated President-elect Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election, becoming the highest-profile Republican so far to accept the election results and congratulate Biden on his victory.
• "Let's move forward. And where we can find common purpose and common ground, let's do that. Let that be our priority," the vice president-elect said. "As opposed to finding out where we disagree, let's actually focus on where we might agree, and then get some work done."
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Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that she applauds Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for acknowledging the incoming Biden administration and speaking with President-elect Joe Biden.

McConnell officially congratulated President-elect Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election, becoming the highest-profile Republican so far to accept the election results and congratulate Biden on his victory.

"The Electoral College has spoken," McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. "So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden."

Biden later confirmed he had a "good conversation" with McConnell after calling him to "thank him for the congratulations."

During an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" host Robin Roberts, Harris said, "I applaud Mitch McConnell for talking with Joe Biden, today. You know, it would have been better if it were earlier, but it happened and that's what's most important, so let's move forward."

"And where we can find common purpose and common ground, let's do that. Let that be our priority," the vice president-elect added. "As opposed to finding out where we disagree, let's actually focus on where we might agree, and then get some work done."

Read more: 'The Electoral College has spoken': Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell officially congratulates Biden as 'president-elect'

McConnell also reportedly told his Senate colleagues not to prevent Congress from recognizing Biden as president-elect in a leaked call, Politico's Jake Sherman reported Tuesday. According to Sherman, McConnell described it as a "terrible vote" for the GOP to vote against the election results just to demonstrate Trump's failed attempts to overturn the election.

In the wake of the Electoral College voting results, Trump continued to challenge the results of the 2020 election and has yet to concede. Last month, the president told reporters that he would "certainly" leave the White House if Biden is elected by the Electoral College, later continuing to tout his unsubstantiated claims of election and voter fraud.

"I think it's critically important that the leaders of our government, especially those who are elected to the highest offices, that we dedicate ourselves to a peaceful transition of power, and to an adherence to, and a respect for, the Constitution of the United States and our electoral system," Harris also told Roberts, in the interview that will be aired in full on Wednesday morning. 

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