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Harris concedes defeat but promises to keep fighting

The ruling party agreed to a smooth transition

US Vice President Kamala Harris finally admitted Tuesday's electoral results were not what her Democrat Party had expected and conceded victory to former President Donald Trump. “When we lose an election, we accept the results,” she reckoned after telephoning the former Republican head of state to congratulate him.

Also calling Trump was President Joseph Biden, who invited his predecessor and successor to a meeting at the White House to discuss an orderly transition despite not receiving the same compliments four years ago, when Trump insisted that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

Read also: World leaders congratulate Trump on his win - still not Harris

“President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together,“ the White House said Wednesday in a statement. Trump Campaign Spokesperson Steven Cheung confirmed the gathering would ”take place shortly.“

“The outcome is not what we hoped for, worked for, or voted for, but the light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” Harris also said during her concession speech at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington, D.C.

She also pointed out that ”the fight for our country is always worth it“ and insisted on how proud she was ”of the campaign we ran“ in her quest to stand for abortion rights and gun control. “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said. “We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts, and the public square, and we will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect.”

“We owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States and loyalty to our conscience and our God,“ 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 went on.

”A fundamental principle” is that Americans accept the results in an election and that principle “distinguishes democracy from monarchy and tyranny,” she elaborated. “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 also pointed out. “To everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves,” she concluded. “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.”

Harris won much of the West Coast and Northeast and Trump clinched victories in the South. But Trump also picked up North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, pushing him over the threshold of 270 electoral votes to win the race and opening the door to new questions such as what would happen with the criminal cases against him, both at a federal and state level.

As per the US Constitution, Trump, who has run for president three times, winning in 2016 and 2024, would not be eligible to run again in 2028 under the 22nd Amendment banning any person from serving more than two terms as president, something that was introduced after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president four consecutive times from 1932 to 1944, which eventually led to an amendment passed on Feb. 27, 1951.

Analysts nationwide tried Wednesday to explain Harris' loss as the result of her emergency taking over from an ailing Biden who visibly stood no chance against Trump after faltering repeatedly during their first and only debate. In that scenario, Harris' image was inevitably linked to the one of her boss, whose ballast was by then already too heavy to pick up, it was explained repeatedly.