Kamala Harris yields to emotional crowd at Howard University

Vice President Kamala Harris tried to soothe disappointment and offer words of encouragement to hundreds of supporters as she conceded the presidential election on Wednesday, with some of her supporters wiping away tears as she spoke.

“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,” Harris said in her statement. speaking at your event. alma mater, Howard University.

Harris consoled Democrats over their loss to former President Donald Trump, acknowledging that they are “feeling and going through a range of emotions right now.”

But she stressed that Democrats had to accept the election results to preserve democracy. By missing Wednesday’s race, Harris did something Trump never did.

“Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with the transition and work on a peaceful transfer of power,” she said, earning applause from the crowd.

Harris’ concession capped a tumultuous and difficult campaign. She suddenly replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket just 15 weeks before Election Day. Her rival narrowly dodged the would-be assassin’s bullet, followed by a second murder attempt nine weeks later. And she withstood months of razor-thin voting advantage it brought the nation to a standstill.

Her loss meant a realignment in the Democratic coalition, with Trump and Republicans expanding their influence to new parts of the electorate, including Latinos. This is despite Trump promoting the chaotic, divisive MAGA policies that have come to define the Republican Party since his emergence as a political force in the 2016 election.

Ultimately, Harris faced serious economic problems and voters who wanted changeand she was unable to defeat the darker tactics of the Trump movement, which attempted to portray her as unstable, a traitor and a threat to society through a torrent of lies, racist smears and disinformation. Trump himself has leaned toward violent rhetoric, citing the shooter who shot at reporters covering his rallies or the weapons of ideas aimed at a former Republican official turned critic if she were sent to war.

Harris, 60, tried to head off those attacks with a message that combined joy and resilience – urging audiences to “lift people up” while bolstering her career as a seasoned prosecutor – and a stark warning: that Trump, 78, would rule as an authoritarian.

But the electorate responded with a decisive victory for Trump amid an economy still recovering from Covid, inflation and dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.

The former U.S. senator and California attorney general, who paved the way as the first female vice president, has ignited her party by entering the presidential race. Democrats were disheartened as Biden went from underperforming to seriously damaged after his lone debate against Trump.

After Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris, Democrats reveled in the change, flooding donation channels and breaking fundraising records. Harris cultivated a forward-thinking identity, seeking to distance herself from the unpopular president she was still working with and from policies that failed to coerce Americans.

Ultimately, however, she may not have pulled back enough.

Harris has put forward political ambitions that have promised to restore women’s access to abortions and promised to create a “care economy” that helps first-time homebuyers, parents of young children and older Americans. Addressing one of the Biden administration’s biggest vulnerabilities with voters, she vowed to aggressively combat illegal immigration, promising to devote more resources to border enforcement and promising to simplify the legal quagmire for asylum seekers and improve paths to citizenship.

Reproductive rights were at the core of her argument. Time and again, Harris has tried to harness the anger and energy behind Trump that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. At rallies, in interviews and in ads, she laid at the former president’s feet the strictest state laws in America, calling them “Trump’s abortion bans.” The lasting impression of her only debate with Trump, where she seemed the more energetic and disciplined candidate, came when she described a woman suffering a miscarriage who was refused care in the emergency room as “bleeding out in the parking lot.”

What Harris didn’t address was the historic nature of her candidacy, in contrast to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign against Trump. But the vice president knew full well what her election would mean. October 22 NBC News interviewHarris said the country is “absolutely” ready for a woman president and is committed to moving beyond the era of division.

“I see this in every aspect of our country,” Harris said at the time. “Part of what’s important about this election is actually not only turning the page, but closing a page and a chapter of an era that suggests Americans are divided.”

But many in the MAGA movement saw her as a threat, and Harris was unable to change amid the deep divisions and polarization that had come to define the US election.

Just a week before the election, standing in front of some 45,000 supporters at the Ellipse in Washington with the White House in the background, Harris openly recalled the site where Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the violence. attack by a mass of his supporters on the US Capitol.

“America, for too long we have been consumed by too much division, chaos and mutual mistrust, and it can be easy to forget the simple truth: it doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way,” Harris said on that cool fall evening in what could be seen as her closing argument. “It’s time to stop pointing fingers. We need to stop pointing fingers and start clasping hands. It’s time to turn the page on drama and conflict, fear and division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America, and I am ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States of America.”

Accelerated Campaign

Harris came to this point after a series of exceptional events.

The critical point for Democrats was Biden’s speech at debate June 27 with Trump. It was Biden who invited Trump to hold a debate with him ahead of schedule. Democrats expected the president to put an end to questions about his cognitive health this time.

This backfired spectacularly. Biden struggled to speak clearly, stared blankly into the distance and was at times incoherent — at one point declaring that Democrats had “finally defeated Medicare.”

While Democrats were in turmoil, Republicans were united after Trump was grazed by a bullet while speaking at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. While visibly bleeding and surrounded by Secret Service, Trump raised his fist in the air and shouted: Fight! Fight! Fight!” immediately creating a cult image.

Republican Party energy soared, and Democrats were concerned that the election was all but lost.

Biden’s re-election campaign has veered off course, causing an outbreak of partisan panic. One after another, congressional leaders called on Biden to step aside until there was critical mass, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., worked behind the scenes to push for his departure. Campaign Insiders doubted that the course was forward existed as fundraising dried up, severely hampering the necessary expansion that occurs in the final stages of a presidential election.

At the same time, on July 21, Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, supporting Harris.

Less than a month later, Chicago hosted a revamped Democratic National Convention, where a jubilant party celebrated a black woman who showed promise in defeating Trump. It was a remarkable resurgence from Harris’ first presidential bid, when she abandoned her bid for the Democratic nomination ahead of the 2019 Iowa caucuses.

Harris’s participation changed the dynamics of the race – literally overnight – expanding the Democratic competitive map beyond the blue wall states, increasing enthusiasm and attracting many volunteers and new voter registrations. These efforts were fueled by a record pace of fundraising that ultimately topped $1.4 billion.

Suddenly, the sleepy events around Biden disappeared, and with Harris, the campaign booked massive venues for mass rallies that immediately drew crowds of at least 10,000 people in each of the swing states. Harris has also attracted the attention of the stars, with celebrities like Oprah, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and others lending their influential voices to support her in some way.

Trump struggled to adapt to his new opponent, publicly excited due to her joining and making a series of mistakes that caused him to suffer from some voters. He questioned Harris’ race and began attacking her on the basis of gender, fought his only debate against her, and became immersed in debunked conspiracy theories, culminating in his claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio ate pets.

It is noteworthy that Harris gave a sharp refutation to Trump’s insistence on the debate stage that he won the 2020 election.

“Donald Trump fired 81 million people,” Harris said. “It’s obviously very difficult for him to get over this.”

But Trump has succeeded in connecting with working-class voters across racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as keeping a significant number of men at bay.

This story was originallynstuck on NBCNews.com.