Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation on Wednesday to formally concede the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump.
Harris addressed the nation and supporters at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, DC.
“I will concede this election, but I will not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said.
“I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations,” she said. The United States “will never give up the fight for democracy,” she added.
Harris acknowledged that she called Trump to congratulate him on his election victory and to discuss the importance of a peaceful transfer of power with the president-elect. Mr. Biden also called Mr. Trump to congratulate him and asked him to invite him to the White House to discuss the transition. Biden plans to address the nation on the election results on Thursday, the White House said.
Mr. Howard served as election night headquarters for Ms. Harris, who was scheduled to give her victory speech Tuesday night. But as midnight approached on the East Coast and election results began to show Donald Trump winning, the crowd’s cheers died down and the Harris campaign canceled its scheduled CNN broadcast. Instead, the DJ blasted music from speakers to get the crowd excited.
“We still have votes to count. There are states that have not yet been called. We will continue throughout the night to ensure that every vote is counted and every voice is heard.” said campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight. But you’ll hear from her tomorrow, because she’s going to be back here tomorrow and support not only the HU family, but her support.” Not only do you address people, but you address the people.”
Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Harris-Waltz campaign, told supporters at Howard University that Vice President Kamala Harris will not speak until Wednesday.
The surest way for Harris to win 270 electoral votes is to pass through Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states that Trump won in 2016 and that President Joe Biden narrowly won in 2020. It was. But Trump outperformed his 2020 performance in state after state, including North Carolina and Georgia. Harris, on the other hand, did not perform as well as Biden in the presidential election four years ago.
Trump’s victory over Harris, the first woman of color to become a major party candidate, marks her second victory over a female opponent in a general election.
Harris rose to the top after Biden withdrew from the race less than 100 days before Election Day after a disastrous debate with the Republican candidate raised questions about his age and competency. Despite high energy and excitement at the beginning of the campaign, she struggled to convince disillusioned voters that she represented a break from an unpopular government amid a compressed schedule. .
Harris focused specifically on reproductive rights, an issue that drew women to her candidacy after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and states began implementing restrictions on abortion. And while the abortion rights bill won in seven states, it wasn’t enough to give Harris a victory.
Some states added abortion rights to their constitutions, but two states rejected the measure.
Trump, on the other hand, tried to appeal to male voters with a very masculine approach. At the voting booth, Trump overwhelmingly beat Harris among men, but about half of women supported Harris.
Mr. Trump ultimately won over voters with grand promises to improve the economy and stem the flow of migrants at the southern border, and a siren call to “Make America Great Again.”
Overall, about half of those who voted for President Trump said inflation was the biggest issue factored into their election decisions, according to evidence from NBC News exit polls.
Almost half (45%) of all voters say they are worse off economically than they were four years ago. This was a higher level of dissatisfaction than recorded in exit polls in recent elections since 2008, when elections were held amid the financial crisis that propelled Barack Obama to victory. Also, two out of three voters rate the U.S. economy poorly, even though the economy is growing due to low unemployment and a booming stock market, and the coronavirus pandemic has put the economy on track. This is a higher level than in 2020, when we had a difficult time.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump ran very different campaigns, with Ms. Harris pledging to work with those who oppose her, and Mr. Trump warning about the “enemy within.” In addition to abortion rights, she emphasized upholding democratic norms and addressing housing costs and other important economic issues.
Harris refused to get drawn into a spat with Trump, for example, when asked whether Trump had downplayed her identity as a black woman. Harris’ mother came to the United States from India, but her father is from Jamaica.
Trump characterized Harris as a socialist with a centrist background, insulting her intelligence and qualifications. Before becoming a senator, Harris served as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general. Biden nominated her as his running mate after he concluded his presidential campaign in 2020.
But as part of the Biden administration, Harris focused on other issues, primarily the war in Gaza, which alienated many traditional Democratic voters.
Mr. Trump, by contrast, presented a bleak vision of America that fact-checkers found full of exaggerations and inaccuracies. He called immigrants “pests” and accused them of committing violent crimes, made wild accusations about schools helping transgender students transition without their parents’ consent, and lashed out at the 2020 presidential election. He repeatedly falsely claimed that he, not Biden, won the election. Late in the campaign, a comedian at a Madison Square Garden rally insulted Puerto Ricans with the punch line, “Floating islands of trash.”
President Trump was found guilty of illegally influencing the 2016 election by paying hush money to a porn actress. He faces federal charges over his efforts to remain in the White House after the 2020 election and faces state charges in Georgia.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Here we take a look at the candidates who achieved first place after the 2024 election.
