US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 6, 2024. Donald Trump won a sweeping victory Wednesday in the US presidential election, defeating Kamala Harris to complete an astonishing political comeback that sent shock waves around the world. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)— US Vice President and defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris promised a peaceful transfer of power to Donald Trump on Wednesday in a defiant concession speech that urged supporters to “keep fighting” for their ideas.
“We must accept the results of this election. Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory,” Harris said in a speech at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington.
“I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition, and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”
Without mentioning Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat to President Joe Biden in 2020, Harris said that honouring election results was what “distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. Anyone who seeks the public trust must honour it.
“At the same time in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience, and to our God,” she added.
In front of a cheering crowd, Harris began by urging her supporters to keep fighting for their ideas despite their bitter disappointment a day after Trump scored his decisive victory.
“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 that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” she said.
After a campaign in which she repeatedly warned that Trump posed a danger to American democracy, she concluded by referring to the sense of foreboding felt by many of her supporters.
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. But for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case,” she said.
“But here’s the thing: America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion stars, the light — the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service,” she added.