Others who were initially viewed as contenders included California Governor Gavin Newsom, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. However, once Biden endorsed Harris, all Democrats fell into line to avoid an intra-party war with only months before the election.

“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi told The New York Times.

“As I say, Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen. We live with what happened.”

Biden stood down on July 21 after weeks of internal dissent after his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June, which put the focus on his age and mental capacity to do another four years in the White House.

Since her concession speech at Howard University on Wednesday, Harris has kept a low profile at her Washington residence at the Naval Observatory in north-west DC.

However, her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, has spoken out for the first time since the election, telling supporters in Minnesota, where he remains the state’s governor, that he would fight any attempt by the incoming administration to “bring a hateful agenda in this state”.

Loading

Walz offered an olive branch, saying that “while there might not be a place in our state for the most extreme elements of that agenda, there should be a place in our politics for everyone to be heard”.

“I think we ought to swallow – and this is me in this, as I’m speaking about myself – swallow a little bit of pride and look a little harder to find common ground with our neighbours who didn’t vote like we did in this election,” the 60-year-old said.

“Maybe when we get a little break from this campaign that we’re in, we’ll be able to look at each other and see not enemies but neighbours.”

Trump has also kept a low profile since his victory as he builds his team ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20.

Loading

On Thursday, he made his first major staffing appointment, tapping loyal campaign co-chair Susie Wiles to be the gatekeeper to his office when he returns to Washington.

On Saturday, the president-elect issued a statement announcing a Trump-Vance inauguration committee, co-chaired by “long-time friends and supporters” of the president-elect: real estate investor Steve Witkoff and former Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler.

“Together, we will celebrate this moment, steeped in history and tradition, and then get to work to achieve the most incredible future for our people, restoring strength, success, and common sense to the Oval Office,” Trump said.

Trump secured an emphatic victory against Harris last week, winning the 270 Electoral College votes he needed to take the presidency, partly by picking up a small but significant share of younger voters, black voters and Hispanic voters.

Many of those voters were angered by the cost-of-living pressures and by the scale of illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.