Harris and Trump have never met. Here's when they could have
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Vice President Kamala Harris (left) speaks during a campaign event in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on Sept. 4. Photo: Kacey Chapman/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Former President Trump (right) participates in a Fox News Town Hall on Sept. 4 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have both been in national politics for the better part of the last decade. Their first face-to-face meeting will be at Tuesday's presidential debate.
Why it matters: The debate will give U.S. voters the first opportunity to see the two candidates interact, answer questions and likely trade insults in real time.
- Harris was a U.S. senator from California during Trump's first time in office between 2017 and 2021 — so their paths primarily crossed on Capitol Hill during key moments of the Trump presidency.
- Even though they've never met, they've spoken amply about each other during their respective campaign rallies, in interviews and in countless statements or social media missives.
- Harris confirmed she never met Trump during a June interview with late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel before President Biden exited the race. CNN's Dana Bash in August repeated this same fact during Harris' first sit-down interview as presidential nominee.
- For their own parts, Trump (raised in New York and living in Florida) and Harris (raised across the U.S., with roots in California) aren't members of American political dynasties that might have ordinarily intersected. Below are a few occasions where they nearly met.
Biden's inauguration
- Trump skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021, during a presidential transition marked by turmoil of a pandemic, dozens of failed post-election lawsuits filed by Trump and an insurrection.
- It is tradition for outgoing presidents to attend the ceremony. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as their spouses, attended Biden's. Obama and Biden both attended Trump's 2017 inauguration.
- The inauguration took place on the same steps where Jan. 6 rioters began their attack on the Capitol weeks before.
Between the lines: Trump didn't meet with Biden in 2020, which was a departure from the norm, according to the Center for Presidential Transition.
- Vice President Mike Pence and former first lady Karen Pence conducted the "ceremonial duties" of greeting Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to the vice president's residency, according to the center.
Trump's State of the Union addresses
- Harris attended at least two of three Trump State of the Union addresses.
- In 2019, she brought a furloughed government worker as her guest to the speech to show the impact of the government shutdown, which was caused by a stalemate between Congress and Trump over funding for Trump's border wall. The shutdown left 800,000 workers temporarily without pay for about five weeks.
- She also delivered a "pre-buttal" via Facebook Live to Trump's address that year, when she was also in the running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Her speech offered fact checking to policy he was expected to focus on.
Trump's impeachment hearings
- Harris sat in the Senate chamber in early 2020 during Trump's first impeachment trial over abuse of power and obstruction of justice. During the nearly three-week trial she posed a written statement to House impeachment managers, per the Washington Post.
- Her statement, read by Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., ended with the question: "If the Senate fails to hold the president accountable for misconduct, how would that undermine the integrity of our system of justice?" She had previously called on Congress to impeach Trump.
- Trump's second impeachment over incitement of an insurrection occurred a week before he left office in 2021, and the trial bled into the Biden-Harris administration. The same month, Harris left the Senate after she was elected vice president.
- Trump was acquitted by the Senate in both trials. Republicans made up the Senate majority in 2020, and Democrats did in 2021.
Funerals and memorials
Elijah Cummings: Trump didn't attend the former U.S. representative's 2019 funeral in Baltimore.
- Cummings chaired the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which carried out Trump's impeachment inquiry.
- Former presidents and Harris attended.
John Lewis: Trump did not attend memorial services in 2020 for the civil rights icon and former U.S. House member in Atlanta.
- In addition to Harris, three former presidents attended, Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg: The Supreme Court justice's shocking death in 2020 set off a race for Republicans to appoint and confirm a new justice with less than 50 days before the election.
- Harris and Trump each attended her services in Washington, DC and Arlington, Virginia, but on separate days.
- Trump, who appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the seat, was booed as he visited the casket of the former Supreme Court justice in 2020.
- Harris attended a private service the following day.
Rosalynn Carter: Trump, along with former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, did not attend the service for the late wife of former President Jimmy Carter in 2023 in Plains, Georgia.
- Biden and Harris both attended.
- Melania Trump was at the service along with fellow former first ladies, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama. All except Melania Trump joined the Bidens' motorcade.
Go deeper: What to know about the first Harris vs. Trump debate
