Vice president Kamala Harris formally conceded to her opponent Donald Trump in a speech at Howard University on Wednesday, casting her resounding defeat at the hands of the former president as the beginning, rather than the end, of her political journey.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris told a crowd of tearful supporters.
Harris began the speech by drawing an implicit contrast with Trump, who refused to concede the 2020 election and inspired a crowd of his supporters to riot at the Capitol.
“I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now,” Harris said. “I get it. But we must accept the results of this election.”
The vice president spoke to a racially diverse audience that was visually despondent. A lifelong Democrat in the crowd told National Review that she fears Donald Trump will implement Project 2025, echoing a popular Harris campaign attack which persisted despite Trump’s repeated insistence that he was not familiar with the Heritage Foundation policy blueprint and had no plans to implement it.
Harris urged her young supporters to continue their progressive advocacy during what she implied would be an ominous period in the country’s history with Trump in the White House.
“Do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.”
The speech came hours after Harris called Trump to concede the race. President Joe Biden also reportedly called Trump to congratulate him on his sweeping victory and to invite him to the White House to begin planning the transition process.
Tuesday night represented the culmination of an astonishing political comeback for Trump, who managed to sweep the Democratic stronghold “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and secure a national popular-vote victory over Harris — a first for Republicans since 2004.
Harris’s unorthodox 107-day campaign began after Biden withdrew from the race in response to mounting intra-party pressure prompted by his disastrous debate performance in late June.
The calls for Biden to resign took on increased urgency after Trump was shot in a failed assassination attempt on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The former president surged in the polls amid wall-to-wall coverage of the botched assassination and the defiance Trump exhibited in the moments after the would-be assassin’s bullet struck his ear. One week later, Biden officially dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris.
In her role as president of the Senate, Harris will be tasked with overseeing the certification of Trump’s victory on January 6, 2025.
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