"The light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting," the vice president says The post Kamala Harris Concedes 2024 Election, but Not ‘The Fight That Fueled This Campaign’ in Hopeful Speech appeared first on TheWrap.

Kamala Harris Concedes 2024 Election, but Not ‘The Fight That Fueled This Campaign’ in Hopeful Speech

"The light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting," the vice president says

The post Kamala Harris Concedes 2024 Election, but Not ‘The Fight That Fueled This Campaign’ in Hopeful Speech appeared first on TheWrap.

Vice President Kamala Harris publicly conceded the 2024 election to President-elect Donald Trump at a press conference at her alma mater Howard University on Wednesday.

“So let me say, my heart is full today, 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. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said from Washington, D.C. “But hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

“In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a nation or party, but to the Constitution,” Harris continued. “While I conceded the election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”

Her concession speech came after Harris called Trump earlier in the day to congratulate him on his win. During their conversation, the vice president reportedly emphasized the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and the need for Trump to be a president for “all Americans,” according to The AP and a campaign memo to media.

Also on Wednesday, Harris/Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon celebrated their launch of a “first-rate, historic Presidential campaign in basically 90 days.” She also thanked her staff for staring “down unprecedented headwinds and obstacles that were largely out of our control. We knew this would be a margin of error race, and it was.”

While she described Harris’ loss as “unfathomably painful” and “hard,” O’Malley Dillon reiterated that “the work of protecting America from the impacts of a Trump Presidency starts now.”

Though not every state has been officially called, Trump currently holds 292 electoral votes to Harris’ 224. You need 270 to win.

Before Harris took the stage on Wednesday, a medic was called to the DJ booth from over the speakers for an undisclosed reason. The press conference was scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. EST, but it began closer to 4:25 p.m. EST.

The audience notably cheered when Gov. Tim Walz entered the crowd just before Harris began speaking. She again walked out Beyonce’s “Freedom.”

More to come…