Good morning! CEOs congratulate Donald Trump, voters supported Trump—and abortion rights, and Kamala Harris tells supporters to keep fighting. Have a peaceful Thursday.
- Fight on. Less than 24 hours after polls closed, Kamala Harris yesterday afternoon conceded the U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump.
Compared to 2016, this Trump victory has seemed to come with an air of resignation among his opponents—gone is the shock of Trump's win for those who eight years ago never thought he could be elected to office, replaced instead with a weariness and reevaluation of where the U.S. is today. There have been few calls to "resist," at least in that language, and, so far, no pink pussy hats. (Before the election, reporting showed that many Gen Zers didn't even remember Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" video, so shocking at the time and released when today's 22-year-old was 14.) Trump won the popular vote this time, creating a different dynamic than 2016's impulse to resist minority rule.
Yet in her concession speech yesterday, Harris rallied her supporters. "Keep fighting," she told the crowd at her alma mater Howard University, the historically Black school. "While I concede this election, I do 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, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up."
Not mentioned in Harris's speech was the historic nature of her candidacy—there was no nod to the "highest, hardest glass ceiling"—consistent with how Harris messaged throughout her short campaign. Instead, there was a focus on a peaceful transfer of power—the most salient variable in 2020.
Seemingly by design, Harris didn't offer much closure on this race. Instead, she told supporters to "roll up [their] sleeves;" Harris herself is only 60, and could continue working to counter the effects of the Trump administration. "Don't ever give up," she said.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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