Vice President Kamala Harris told supporters to accept her election loss at the hands of President-elect Donald Trump but urged them to keep fighting for the ideals she espoused in her campaign as she publicly conceded the 2024 presidential race.
“I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it. But we must accept the results of this election,” Harris said Wednesday at Howard University in Washington, making her first public remarks since Trump carried out one of the most stunning political comebacks in US history.
“Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory,” she added. “I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”
Harris said that while she conceded “this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted,” she said. “Not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but 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.”
President Joe Biden also expressed his commitment to a smooth transition and to working together to unite the country in a phone call with Trump, according to the White House. The president invited Trump to meet him at the White House in the near future.
“President Trump looks forward to the meeting, which will take place shortly, and very much appreciated the call,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement about the call with Biden.
Biden also spoke by phone to Harris to congratulate her on running an historic campaign. He will “address the nation to discuss the election results and the transition” on Thursday, the White House said. That speech will be at 11 a.m. Washington time, according to his official schedule.
Harris’ address drew a number of prominent Democratic figures, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and kicks off a period of recriminations and self-reflection for the party in the aftermath of a stunning electoral defeat.
Trump’s election as the 47th president saw him flip key swing states and his party retake control of the US Senate in what polls ahead of Election Day had pegged as a razor-tight presidential race. Control of the US House is yet to be determined, with several races still too close to call, but Democratic hopes of retaking that chamber are fading.
As vice president, Harris will oversee the certification of Trump’s election victory by Congress in January — a process which in 2021 saw a mob of his supporters attack the US Capitol to disrupt the proceedings after Biden’s election win. Harris delivered her closing argument to voters last week from the Ellipse near the White House, the same site where Trump addressed his supporters ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
The election defeat for Harris caps a whirlwind campaign for the country’s first woman vice president, who sought to make history by becoming the first woman US president. Harris only campaigned for 107 days — forced to ramp up her campaign operation after Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse her.
The Democratic nominee, despite being part of the incumbent administration, urged voters to turn the page. But she was unable to escape the headwinds from the electorate’s broad frustration with Biden — particularly over decades-high inflation and a migrant surge across the US-Mexico border.
Trump seized on those voter concerns in one of the most polarizing contests in history — an unprecedented race that saw him survive two assassination attempts and legal challenges, including becoming the first former US president convicted of a felony. The president-elect overperformed in several regions and with key groups compared to his 2020 campaign as he capped off a stunning political comeback.
Harris focused heavily on turning out female voters, vowing to work to restore federal abortion rights after the US Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade, but was unable to improve on Biden’s showing with women.
