2024 US election: US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris pledged to continue fighting for the ideals that fueled her presidential campaign in a concession speech Wednesday after conceding the presidential race to Republican Donald Trump.

In an emotional concession speech at her alma mater Howard University, Harris urged her supporters to accept the election results and pledged to ensure a peaceful transfer of power to the Republican leader.

“The promise of America will always shine”

Harris, 60, said “the light of America’s promise will always shine” and pledged to continue the “fight” that fueled her campaign. “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 determination,” she said in an attempt to boost the morale of her supporters .

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, nor what we fought for, nor what we voted for. But listen to me when I say that the light of the American promise will always shine,” she added.

“I know people are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I understand. But we have to accept the results of this election,” she said, adding that a fundamental principle of democracy is to accept the election results.

“I concede this election, I do not concede the fight”

Harris said she spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory. “I told Trump that we would help him and his team with their transition and engage in a peaceful transition of power,” she said. “In our nation, we owe our loyalty not to any president or party but to the Constitution of the United States,” she added.

“While I acknowledge this election, I do not acknowledge the struggle that fueled this campaign,” she told supporters, many of them in tears, at her alma mater Howard University, a historically black college in Washington. .

Harris, in a sometimes hesitant voice, pledged to continue fighting for women’s rights and against gun violence and to “fight for the dignity that all deserve.”

Harris also called on her supporters not to give up their fights to protect the country’s fundamental principles. “Sometimes the fight takes time, but that doesn’t mean we won’t win; the important thing is to never give up,” she said.

Kamala Harris congratulates Donald Trump on his victory

Earlier, Harris admitted defeat in the US presidential election by calling Trump and congratulating him on his victory. Harris “called President-elect Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential election,” CNN reported, citing a Harris team official.

She spoke about the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans, according to the statement.

Trump won the US presidential election for a second term, inflicting a shock defeat on Harris, in one of the most remarkable comebacks in US electoral history after his ouster from power four years ago. In the election, Trump, 78, made a remarkable comeback, securing 291 electoral college votes to Harris’s 223 in a fiercely contested race that highlighted contrasting worldviews for Americans.

(With contribution from agencies)

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