On the worst day of her political career, Vice President Kamala Harris sought to strike a positive note as she encouraged her supporters to accept the results of Tuesday’s election and back a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Donald Trump.
But during her short appearance at Howard University in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Harris provided no introspection as to why she and the Democratic party fell short on Tuesday, handing the presidency and Senate back to Trump and the Republicans.
“My heart is full today. Full of gratitude for the trust you placed in me. Full of love for my country. And full of resolve,” Harris told the crowd Wednesday after she failed to show up on Tuesday night when results did not appear to be going her way. “The outcome of this election is not what we wanted. Not what we fought for. Not what we voted for. But hear me when I say, the light of the American promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up, and as long as we keep fighting.”
At Howard, her alma mater and a historically black college, Harris acknowledged people were “feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now.”
“I get it. But we must accept the results of this election,” she said.
But Harris remained defiant, contending that while she conceded the election, she would “not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
“The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation,” she said.
Harris specifically spoke to young and first-time voters, who helped propel her campaign, particularly this summer after she dramatically replaced Biden at the top of the ticket amid concerns about his age, mental acuity, and own electoral prospects against Trump.
“On the campaign, I would often say, ‘When we fight, we win,’ but here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up.”
Less than a day earlier, the mood at Howard, Harris was hopeful that the country was on the precipice of history. Harris would have been the first woman president, the first president of Indian descent, and the second black president.
Attendees, many of them students who are women and were first-time voters, components of her coalition, danced in Howard’s Yard before early returns, delivered via CNN on projector screens set-up around the quadrangle, started underscoring that Harris was underperforming in precincts and among demographics that would have indicated she was on a pathway to 270 Electoral College votes and the presidency.
The “joy” that Harris said had embodied her campaign was quickly replaced by foreboding as news outlets called battleground states North Carolina, Georgia, and the Pennsylvania for Trump. Trump won 292 electoral votes to Harris’s 226, 72 million people nationally casting a ballot for him over the 62 million who did the same for the vice president. In the process, Trump became the first Republican to win the national vote since 2004. Republicans also flipped the Senate, controlling at least 52 seats, while it appears the House of Representatives will continue under Republican control.
On Wednesday, the atmosphere was more subdued as Democrats around the country come to terms with another four years of a President Donald Trump. Some attendees cried as they conveyed their emotions to reporters.
High-profile attendees on Wednesday included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who was instrumental in the pressure campaign that pushed Biden aside, and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Harris’s address shared similarities with that of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the only other woman to be a major party’s standard-bearer, who herself suffered a defeat to Trump. Clinton, however, became emotional as she made remarks to the nation and supporters wearing suffragette purple. In comparison, Harris, who also wore purple, was more composed.
Harris earlier Wednesday called Trump. Aides reported that Harris and Trump “discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans.”
As the Trump campaign turns into a transition, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the former president, confirmed the call.
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“President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country,” Cheung wrote in a statement.
Biden, who will address the nation on Thursday, made his own call to Trump, inviting his predecessor to the White House to start the transition process and encourage cooperation to bring the country together, a courtesy the former president did not extend to the incumbent in 2020 as he contested the results of that election.
Watch the speech in full
