Washington
CNN
—

Vice President Kamala Harris made an encouraging, positive appeal to her supporters as she conceded the 2024 presidential election. She acknowledged the painful loss but committed to a peaceful transfer of power and promised to “fight” in a very different way than a losing presidential candidate had promised four years ago.

“Today I spoke with President-elect (Donald) Trump and congratulated him on his victory. “I also told him that we will assist him and his team in their transition and engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” she said in an address at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington, DC

With those comments, Harris did something her opponent refused to do after the 2020 election: She accepted the results.

“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. … At the same time, 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 our God. “My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say: Even as I concede this election, I do not admit the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said.

One hundred and eight days into her campaign, the self-proclaimed “joyful warrior” spoke forcefully about her loss and sought to reassure the American people.

“I know people are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I understand it. But we must accept the results of this election,” she said.

After a tense campaign, the vice president closed a chapter in the history books and called on his supporters to “roll up their sleeves” in response to the election results.

“Don’t despair. This is not the time to throw up your hands. Now it's time to roll up your sleeves. This is a time of organizing, mobilizing and engaging for freedom, justice and the future we all know we can build together,” she said in her 12-minute remarks.

She promised to fight that fight “in the voting booth, in the courts, and in the public square,” but also in a “quieter way: by treating one another with kindness and respect…by always using our strength to lift people up.”

She also sent messages to her younger supporters.

“For the young people watching, it’s okay to be sad and disappointed, but know that everything will be okay. During the election campaign I often said: “If we fight, we win.” But here's the thing, here's the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win,” she said.

“The most important thing is to never give up. Never give up. “Never stop making the world a better place,” she continued. “You have the ability to do extraordinary good in the world.”

With the glass ceiling still intact, Harris did not directly address the nation's failure to achieve the historic, groundbreaking result of a female president for the second time, something she largely avoided during the campaign, instead letting surrogates do the talking for her .

But she nodded at the moment: “Never listen when someone tells you something is impossible because it’s never been done before.”

The speech marked the conclusion of a historic and tumultuous election season that also included President Joe Biden's decision to resign after a disastrous performance in the debate. His vice presidential candidate quickly consolidated party support and rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

Wearing a dark suit late Wednesday afternoon, Harris walked out to Beyoncé's upbeat anthem “Freedom,” as she has done throughout her time on the campaign trail, pausing for a few moments as the crowd applauded her.

Her vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was seen crying, as were several attendees standing in the front row ahead of her.

Harris had gathered with her immediate family and aides at the Naval Observatory on Tuesday evening and was a no-show for her campaign's watch party at Howard University, as thousands of her supporters gathered at her alma mater to watch the announcement of the results.

She officially abandoned the race early Wednesday afternoon and offered her congratulations to Trump in a call that lasted just a few minutes, a person familiar said.

Harris, a senior adviser, said: “He talked about the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans.”

In an ironic twist, Harris' daily work will soon require official certification of her own loss.

According to the National Archives, on January 6, 2025, the Vice President, as President of the Senate, “will preside over the counting and announce the results of the Electoral College vote.”