Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff have fled to Hawaii after her election loss and as Europe faces the possibility of war.
The couple is on Kalaoa, which is on the west side of the big island of Hawaii. They are hunkered down in the sun after Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election.
The couple will be able to enjoy long walks on its scenic beaches as the shadow war looms over Europe.
Russia has signaled it will retaliate with full-scale nuclear war after Ukraine launched US-made missiles over the border on Tuesday. The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch ‘a significant air attack,’ closing the embassy and telling Americans to shelter in place.
It’s unclear how long Harris and Emhoff will be on the island, which is the southernmost point of the United States.
The couple usually spends the Thanksgiving holiday on Hawaii. It’s unclear if Emhoff’s children or any of the Harris family members will join them.
Harris’ office did not respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiry. Local papers report she’s staying about a week.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff arrived on the big island of Hawaii on Tuesday evening
President Joe Biden has not publicly stated his plans for Thanksgiving. In the past, the Biden clan has decamped to Nantucket for the holiday.
The local papers say preparations are being made on the island for the presidential arrival and that the Secret Service has ordered 200-plus turkey dinners from a local restaurant.
Harris, meanwhile, has retreated from the public eye since her devastating loss.
She appeared with Biden on Veteran’s Day at Arlington National Cemetery and then had lunch with him at the White House the next day.
But she has been behind closed doors for a week
Harris, however, is prepared to fly back from Hawaii to break any tie votes in the Senate if needed.
She delayed her trip in the event that she would be needed for votes in the Senate to confirm judges, one of her aides told NBC News. She is not expected to be needed as no major battle is expected over judicial nominees until December.
President Biden is working to fill all the empty judicial openings in his final few months in office as he seeks to top the 234 judges Trump secured during his first term.
Harris, as vice president, is the president of the Senate and breaks any 50-50 votes.
Schumer has made it clear he’s determined to get the confirmations done before Biden leaves office and that he would use the lame-duck session – the period between the election and when the new president is inaugurated – to confirm more judges.
Republicans did the same in late 2020 as Trump was finishing his first term.
‘We are going to use the lame duck to confirm judges. And we’re going to do everything we can to get as many judges done as possible, trying to overcome the Republican obstruction,’ Schumer told NBC.
Harris and Emhoff are regular vacationers to Hawaii.
She won Hawaii’s four electoral votes in the Nov. 5 election and received 60.6% of the overall count in the state versus 37.5% for Trump.
The war between Russia and Ukraine is heating up
Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine is heating up.
Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Moscow would ‘react accordingly’ after Ukraine launched its latest strike.
In a dramatic escalation on the 1,000th day of the conflict, Kyiv launched six ‘ATACM’ missiles from an undisclosed location over the border into Russian territory.
Such attacks are expected to increase in frequency after Biden approved the use of ATACMS earlier this week.
The strikes triggered a fiery explosion at a depot in Karachev, believed to be storing ammunition supplied by North Korea, around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin provocatively signed off changes to Russia’s laws on nuclear weapons to make it easier for them to be deployed against Ukraine in retaliation.
The amendments allow Russia to launch a nuclear attack in response to a conventional weapons strike – such as one by long-range missiles.
As the situation grows, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered his biggest hint yet that No.10 would authorize Ukraine to fire UK Storm Shadow missiles into Russia.
Both Moscow and Kyiv appear to be stepping up their attacks ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration in January.
Trump has said he wants to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine but has not said how leading to uncertainty about what his solution will be and what level of support he will give Ukraine.