Washington: Conceding her defeat in the elections to president-elect Donald Trump , Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday showed a combative mood by saying that she will not concede the fight that fuelled her presidential election campaign.
“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign,” Harris told thousands of her supporters at Howard University in Washington DC.
“This is a time to organise, to mobilise and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know, we can build together,” Harris said in her remarks as she told her supporters that earlier in the day, she called Trump to congratulate him on his electoral victory.
During the call, she said, she promised a peaceful transition of power. She noted that there is disappointment among her supporters.
“I get it, but we must accept the results of this election. I also told him that we will help him and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power, a fundamental principle of American democracy,” she said.
The mood at the rally was incredibly sombre. The crowd of what appeared to number several thousand was very quiet. Harris campaign aides stood to one side of the stage as she spoke and exchanged hugs, including Jen O’Malley Dillon, David Plouffe, and Brian Fallon.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser were seen conversing in the crowd. Several of Harris’s younger family members were wiping away tears as they left the rally.
The vice president soon went into a combative mood cautioning that she and her supporters would continue to fight for the issue that they have been fighting for.
“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…that is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign,” Harris said.
The vice president said she will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do.
“We will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law, for equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld,” Harris said.
Harris said it is okay to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it’s going to be okay. “On the campaign, I would also say, when we fight, we win. But here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a lot. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” she said.
“The important thing is, don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. Don’t you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before. You have the capacity to do extraordinarily good in the world, and so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands,” she said.
“This is a time to organise, to mobilise and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together,” Harris said.
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