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Kamala Harris conceded defeat in the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump in remarks from her alma mater Howard University, formally ending her historic campaign against her Republican rival after her decisive losses in a series of hard-fought battleground states that President Joe Biden won just four years ago.
“My heart is full today,” the vice president said in remarks to supporters from the university campus in Washington DC on Wednesday evening.
“Full of gratitude for the trust you’ve placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve,” she added.
“The outcome of this election was not what we wanted, 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, and as long as we never give up, and as long as we keep fighting,” Harris said.
The candidates confirmed they spoke with one another on Wednesday, and that Harris “congratulated him on his historic victory,” according to Trump’s campaign communications director Steven Cheung.
“President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country,” he added.
Trump, as he declared victory in the early morning hours on Tuesday, called his election a “political victory that our country has never seen before” that would usher in a “golden age.”
Harris said that the Biden-Harris administration is prepared to work with the incoming Trump team and to “ensure a peaceful transfer of power” — drawing the unspoken contrast to Trump’s baseless attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost, culminating in a mob of his supporters launching a violent assault inside the Capitol.
That peaceful transition distinguishes the US “from monarchy and tyranny,” Harris said in her 12-minute remarks, powered by campaign anthem “Freedom” by Beyonce.
“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election we accept the results. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it,” she added. “We owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the constitution of the United States.”
While she admitted defeat in this race, she said she will “not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
She urged against “despair,” returning to her “when we fight, we win” slogan to reminder her supporters that the fight often “takes a while.”
“To the young people who are watching: it is OK to feel sad and disappointed,” she said. “But please know it’s going to be OK.”
Harris, who would have been the first woman to hold the presidency, told supporters not to “ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.”
