Kamala Harris calls on supporters to ‘never give up’ as she concedes sweeping loss to Trump
Kamala Harris conceded Wednesday her sweeping loss to President-elect Donald Trump with a clarion call to continue the fight for justice in America.
“The light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up and keep fighting,” she said.
Speaking at her alma mater of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Harris told a tearful crowd of thousands of supporters that she wished Trump the best after he decisively defeated her in the race for the White House.
The Democratic vice president vowed to continue the fight for freedom and justice that drove her failed bid to become the first Black woman president.
“I concede this election but I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign: the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness,” she said.
She stressed that she accepts the loss to Trump and would help ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
Harris ticked off long-running battles for civil rights, racial justice and reproductive rights as she urged her mostly youthful crowd to square off against opponents in “voting booths, courts and the public square.”
She reprised one of her lines from her stump speech in which she regularly warned supporters during her 107-day campaign that winning would not be easy.
“The fight for our freedom will take hard work, but hard work is good work,” Harris said. “The fight for our country is always worth it.”
Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz joined the crowd along with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a longtime ally of Harris.
“This is not a time to throw up our hands,” Harris said. “It’s a time to roll up our sleeves.
“Let us fill the sky with the light of a billion stars: the light of optimism, faith, truth and service,” she added.
Harris spoke on the campus of the historically Black university a few hours after calling Trump to concede and congratulate him on his victory.
“She discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans,” a senior Harris aide said.
President Joe Biden also called Trump to offer congratulations and invited him to the White House to discuss the transition.
The one-term Democrat, who stepped down from the race in July and backed Harris, is expected to address the nation Thursday.
The Harris campaign had been largely silent Wednesday morning after Trump claimed victory and major news organizations crowned him the 47th president.
Harris and the Democrats were mostly blindsided by the scale of Trump’s victory and Harris’ defeat. They went into Election Day believing the race was a dead heat and even hoped Harris could engineer a significant victory.
All that came crashing down in a matter of hours Tuesday night as Trump notched sweeping victories in states from coast-to-coast and forged a big lead in the national popular vote.
Harris’ historic defeat ended her dream of making history as the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win the White House.
She launched her campaign on July 21 after Biden stepped down amid widespread questions about his age and fitness.
Harris quickly unified Democrats behind her bid and forged a modest lead in polls. But Trump hung tough in what some pundits said was a reflection of the broad unpopularity of the Biden administration’s economic record.
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