Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation Wednesday to formally concede the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump.
Harris delivered a speech to the nation and her supporters at Howard College in Washington D.C., her alma mater.
“Whereas I concede this election,” Harris stated, “I don’t concede the combat that fueled this marketing campaign.”
“I’ll by no means surrender a combat for a future the place People can pursue their goals ambitions and aspirations,” she stated. America, she added, “won’t ever surrender the combat for our democracy.”
Harris confirmed she referred to as Trump to congratulate him on his election win, discussing the significance of a peaceable switch of energy with the president-elect. Biden has additionally referred to as Trump to congratulate him and to ask him to the White Home to debate the transition. Biden plans to handle the nation Thursday on the election outcomes, the White Home stated.
Howard had served as her election evening headquarters the place Harris had hoped to ship a victory speech Tuesday evening. However as midnight approached on the East Coast and election outcomes trickled in exhibiting victories for Donald Trump, the cheers within the crowd turned silent and the Harris marketing campaign turned off its projected broadcasts of CNN. As a substitute, the DJ blared music from audio system to hype the group.
“We nonetheless have votes to rely. We nonetheless have states that haven’t been referred to as but. We’ll proceed in a single day to attempt to ensure that each vote is counted, that each voice has spoken,” marketing campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond stated. “So you will not hear from the vice chairman tonight. However you’ll hear from her tomorrow, as a result of she might be again right here tomorrow to handle not solely the HU household, not solely to handle her supporters, however to handle the nation.”
Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris-Walz marketing campaign, spoke to supporters at Howard College saying Vice President Kamala Harris is not going to converse till Wednesday.
Harris’ surest method to 270 electoral votes was by Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states Trump gained in 2016 and President Joe Biden captured narrowly in 2020. However in state after state, together with North Carolina and Georgia, Trump outperformed what he did within the 2020 election whereas Harris did not do in addition to Biden did in profitable the presidency 4 years in the past.
Trump’s win in opposition to Harris, the primary girl of colour to steer a serious celebration ticket, marks the second time he has defeated a feminine rival in a common election.
Harris rose to the highest of the ticket after Biden exited the race with lower than 100 days till Election day after a disastrous debate with the Republican nominee raised questions on his age and skill. Regardless of an preliminary surge of power and pleasure round her marketing campaign, she struggled throughout a compressed timeline to persuade disillusioned voters that she represented a break from an unpopular administration.
Harris centered significantly on reproductive rights, a problem that drew girls to her candidacy after the U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned the Roe v. Wade resolution and states started implementing restrictions on abortions. And whereas abortion rights measures gained in seven states, it wasn’t sufficient get Harris the win.
Some states have added abortion rights to their Structure, whereas two have rejected measures.
Trump, in the meantime, sought to courtroom male voters with a hypermasculine strategy. On the poll field, Trump trounced Harris amongst males whereas about half of ladies backed Harris.
Trump finally gained over voters with grand guarantees to enhance the financial system, block the stream of immigrants on the Southern border and his siren name to “make America nice once more.”
Total, about half of Trump voters stated inflation was the largest problem factoring into their election choices, in response to proof from the NBC Information Exit Ballot.
Practically half — 45% — of all voters stated they have been worse off financially than they have been 4 years in the past. That was a better stage of dissatisfaction than what registered in exit polls in any current election going again to 2008, when the election occurred amid the monetary disaster that propelled Barack Obama to victory. And although the financial system is rising, with a low jobless charge and a booming inventory market, 2 in 3 voters rated the U.S. financial system poorly, a stage greater than in 2020, when the nation struggled to get in gear through the Covid pandemic.
Harris and Trump ran very completely different campaigns, with Harris promising to work with individuals who disagreed along with her, whereas Trump warned about “the enemy inside.” In addition to abortion rights, she emphasised preserving democratic norms and tackling housing prices and different bread-and-butter financial points.
Harris refused to be drawn into spats with Trump, when for instance he questioned whether or not she had downplayed her id as a Black girl. Harris’ mom got here to the USA from India whereas her father is from Jamaica.
Trump characterised Harris as a socialist, although she has a extra centrist report, and insulted her intelligence and her {qualifications}. Harris was San Francisco’s district lawyer and California’s lawyer common earlier than turning into a U.S. senator. Biden tapped her as his operating mate after she ended her personal marketing campaign for president in 2020.
However as a part of the Biden administration, Harris struggled with different points — the warfare in Gaza was the principle one — over which she alienated many conventional Democratic voters.
Against this, Trump introduced a darkish imaginative and prescient of America, and one which truth checkers discovered stuffed with exaggerations and inaccuracies. He referred to as migrants “vermin” and charged they have been committing violent crimes, made wild accusations about colleges serving to transgender colleges transition with out their dad and mom’ consent, and repeated his false claims that he, not Biden, had gained the 2020 presidential election. Late within the marketing campaign, a comic at his Madison Sq. Backyard rally insulted Puerto Ricans with a “floating island of rubbish” punchline.
Trump has been discovered responsible of illegally influencing the 2016 election by making hush funds to a porn actress. He faces federal prices over his efforts to stay within the White Home after the 2020 election and state prices in Georgia.
The Related Press contributed to this story.
Here’s a have a look at candidates marking firsts after the 2024 election.