US election 2024: US Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris vowed to keep fighting for the ideals that fueled her presidential campaign in a concession speech on Wednesday after conceding the presidential race to Republican Donald Trump.
In an emotional concession speech at her alma mater Howard University, Harris urged supporters to accept the election results and pledged to ensure a peaceful transfer of power to the Republican leader.
'Light of America’s promise will always burn bright'
60-year-old Harris said the "light of America’s promise will always burn bright" and vowed to keep up the “fight” that fuelled her campaign. "My heart is full today — full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve," she said in an attempt to lift the spirits of her supporters.
"The outcome of this election is 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," she added.
"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," she said, adding that a fundamental principle of democracy is to accept the election outcomes.
'I concede this election, I do not concede fight'
Harris said that she had spoken with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory. "I told Trump that we will help him and his team in their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transition of power," she said. "In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the constitution of the United States," she added.
"While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign," she told supporters, many of them in tears, at her alma mater Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington.
Harris, her voice at times wavering, pledged to continue fighting for women's rights and against gun violence and to "fight for the dignity that all people deserve."
Harris also called on her supporters not to give up their fights to protect the country’s foundational principles. "Sometimes the fight takes a while, but that does not mean we will not win; the important thing is don’t ever give up," she said.
Kamala Harris congratulates Donald Trump on victory
Earlier, Harris conceded defeat in the US presidential election as she called up Trump and congratulated him on his victory. Harris "called President-elect Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential election," CNN reported, quoting an official in Harris' team.
She discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans, it said.
Trump won the US presidential election for a second term, handing a shock defeat to Harris, in one of the most remarkable comebacks in American electoral history after he was evicted from power four years back. In the election, 78-year-old Trump made a remarkable comeback, securing 291 electoral college votes compared to Harris's 223 in a hard-fought race that highlighted contrasting worldviews for Americans.
(With agencies input)
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