Vice President Kamala Harris has sought to reassure her supporters that, while they did not win the United States presidential election this year, the fight is far from over.
“The outcome of the election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said in a concession speech to a crowd of students and supporters at Howard University in Washington, DC, her alma mater.
“Hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
Her address on Wednesday afternoon was the first time Harris had spoken to her supporters since Republican candidate Donald Trump won the race.
Many had waited outside in tears on the university grounds on Tuesday night as the election unfolded. But an expected late-night speech never materialised: Her campaign director emerged to tell them that Harris was going to wait until more results came in.
By early Wednesday, the race had been called for Trump, who passed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.
Mood upbeat
The mood on Wednesday afternoon was decidedly more upbeat when Harris spoke, with huge cheers and screams emanating from the crowd.
“I know folks have a range of emotions, I get it,” Harris said with a laugh.
“I spoke with Trump and congratulated him and told him we will help him with the transition and engage with a peaceful transfer of power.”
Harris then made a pointed dig at Trump who campaigned on his refusal to concede that he lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden.
“It’s a fundamental principle of a democracy that when we lose an election, we accept the result,” she said.
But Harris added that did not mean she was giving up.
“While I concede this election I don’t not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign,” she said. “To the young people, it is OK to feel sad and disappointed. Please know it will be OK.”
She added: “On the campaign, we say when we fight we win, sometimes the fight takes a while … It doesn’t mean we won’t win.”
Harris ended her speech by thanking her husband Doug Emhoff for his support.
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of all of us, I hope that is not the case,” she said.
Saviour for Democrats
Harris, 60, began campaigning after Biden stepped out of the race after stumbling badly in a June presidential debate with Trump. His performance sparked concerns about his ability to serve until the end of a second term in 2029, when he would be 86.
Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his vice president. Harris quickly took over the Democratic campaign.
She was seen among many Democrats as a potential saviour for her party: the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent who could reach the Oval Office. Four years ago, she broke the same barriers for the vice presidency by becoming Biden’s second in command.
Harris ran an energetic campaign focused on moving away from Trump’s dark message of economic ruin and immigrants flooding the country. A key element of her platform was her advocacy for women’s reproductive freedom, a rallying cry that resonated with many young voters who flocked to her rallies.
The 2024 race was the first presidential campaign since the US Supreme Court struck down constitutional protection for abortion rights two years prior, in June 2022. The Harris campaign had hoped for a surge of support from women.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome the deep anger among US voters over high inflation, the cost of basic necessities such as food and housing, and worries about undocumented immigration, according to exit polls.
Trump’s promise to return to a “golden age of America” saw the key battleground states move decisively away from the Democrats.
He is due to take office on January 20, 2025, returning to power as the 47th US president four years after refusing to accept defeat to President Joe Biden.
As the sitting vice president, Harris is expected to oversee Congress’s ceremonial certification of Trump’s win. Biden has also said he will attend the inauguration, unlike Trump in 2021 who snubbed his successor.
