Supporters hail 'phenomenal job' as Harris concedes to Trump

Faced with a sweeping rejection by American voters, Kamala Harris conceded the presidential election to Donald Trump on Wednesday and encouraged supporters to continue fighting for their vision of the country.

The Democratic vice president said the battle would continue “in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square.”

“Sometimes the fight takes a while,” she said at Howard University, her alma mater, where she had hoped to make a victory speech after the election. “That doesn’t mean we won’t win.”

Harris' decisive defeat shattered hopes that she could rescue Democrats' chances after President Joe Biden's reelection effort stalled and she replaced him at the top of the ticket.

She trailed in every battleground state to Trump, a Republican whom she described as an existential danger to the country’s foundational institutions. And Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for the White House — even after two impeachments, felony convictions and his attempt to overturn his previous election loss.

Despite her stark warnings about Trump, Harris reached for optimism on Wednesday.

“It is OK to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it’s going to be OK," she told supporters as some of them wiped tears from their eyes.

Biden released a statement praising Harris after her speech, saying: “She will continue the fight with purpose, determination, and joy. She will continue to be a champion for all Americans. Above all, she will continue to be a leader our children will look up to for generations to come as she puts her stamp on America’s future.”

Before her speech, Harris called Trump to congratulate him on his victory. She told the crowd that “we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power," an implicit reference to Trump's unwillingness to do the same four years ago.

Some in the audience expressed disappointment that Harris was not able to make history as the country's first Black female president. Harris would also have been first U.S. president of South Asian descent

Gregory Pate, 38, said he appreciated that Harris said she was "committed to the fight and not looking at this as a permanent defeat, but just another obstacle that we have to go through as Black people.”

"I think it was perfect. I think that it was timely, and it was a message that I came to hear,” said Pate, of Fairfax, Virginia.

Jay Evans, of Greenbelt, Maryland, said after Harris' spoke that he's wistful for what could have been.

“We’re partly sad, because hearing her speak, she would have been an amazing person to bring the country together and to keep us in a better path,” Evans said.

After Trump lost to Biden, he directed his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol, leading to a violent insurrection that interrupted the ceremonial certification of the election results.

Now Harris is expected to oversee the same certification process to finalize Trump's victory as voters brush off concerns about the future of American democracy and return the former Republican president to the White House.

"I thought she did a phenomenal job. She ended the campaign with optimism and hope, which is what people needed,'' said Troy Blackwell, a Harris supporter.

David Plouffe, a top Harris adviser, said campaign staffers “left it all on the field for their country.”

“We dug out of a deep hole but not enough,” he said. “A devastating loss."

Harris became the Democratic candidate after Biden, who was already struggling to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86 years old, stumbled badly in his June 27 debate with Trump.

He dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his vice president, who swiftly unified the Democratic Party around her candidacy.