Trump's vice president Mike Pence applauds successor Kamala Harris

Pence, whom some of Trump’s supporters during the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol had threatened to hang for refusing to try to overturn Biden’s Electoral College win in Congress, applauded the next vice president, Kamala Harris, as she arrived at the U.S. Capitol. Trump skipped the inauguration.

Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, stood on the US Capitol steps Wednesday to bid farewell to her predecessor, former Vice President Mike Pence, and his wife, Karen.

The two couples stood and chatted for a few moments, even laughing, on the steps before the Pences got into a vehicle and were driven away.

President Donald Trump typically would have performed the sendoff for his second-in-command but opted to skip Wednesday's inaugural festivities.

Trump and his wife, Melania, went straight from the White House to Joint Base Andrews earlier Wednesday. He gave a campaign-style farewell speech before boarding Air Force One for a final time as president and traveling to his home in Florida.

Pence opted not to attend that event, instead attending Biden's inauguration.