Kamala Harris won’t speak on Election Night as Trump declares victory
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign did not admit defeat even as Donald Trump took the stage to declare victory in the presidential election early Wednesday.
Harris planned to address supporters and the nation Wednesday at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the site of her planned election night party.
Late Tuesday night, her campaign sought to temper fears over weak early returns, reminding Democrats in a memo that “the closeness of the race is exactly what we prepared for.”
The memo, sent by Harris campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon noted, “While we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we’re seeing.”
The campaign emphasized higher-than-expected Election Day turnout in Philadelphia, along with ballots yet to be counted in Democratic strongholds like Detroit and the Wisconsin counties of Milwaukee and Dane. Dillon’s memo urges supporters to “finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow.”
The campaign said Harris will address the country later on Wednesday. Trump declared victory at his own rally in West Palm Beach just after 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken,” said Cedric Richmond, Harris’ campaign co-chair. “So you won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow.”Richmond said Harris would return to Howard on Wednesday “not only to address her supporters but to address the nation.”
News of the memo came as supporters at Harris’s election night party began quietly trickling out of the Yard at Howard University just before midnight.
“I’m still hopeful, but I’m a little bit disappointed that so many people turned out to vote for someone who doesn’t seem to care about everybody,” said Valda Johnson, 59, a Democratic voter from northern Virginia.
“It’s depleting and it makes me feel that our country hasn’t changed very much,” she said. “I just think that we’re still not ready for a woman to run the country, and I think it’s really gender discrimination. She’s far more qualified. She has the experience.”
With millions of votes still left to be counted, including in critical swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin, the race seemed to swing in Republican candidate Donald Trump’s favor with his victories in North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania key battlegrounds. The former president was also leading in early returns in the Rust Belt just after midnight.
Harris has not made an appearance at the party, and her campaign has been mostly silent as the votes roll in.
Johnson, a Howard alum like Harris, left the watch party because she didn’t think the race would be decided Tuesday night.
“I think people don’t think it’s going to end tonight. I think you’re gonna have counting into hours after midnight,” Johnson said. “There’s not gonna be the party that maybe they thought would happen tonight.”
Princess Charles, a 26-year-old who works at a political firm in Washington, D.C., said the early results reminded her more of the 2016 election, when Trump won handily in a race that was decided on election night.
“I think in 2020 after the first blow, we got smarter, and we didn’t undermine his campaign,” she said. “It’s unfortunate, though, to see how much the people are easily swayed by foolishness, the propaganda, the reality show tactics and not the reality that people are actually facing.”
Earlier the candidate made her final case to voters in a series of radio interviews Tuesday.
“I think this is an inflection point,” Harris told a radio host in Atlanta. “This is the moment where we have two very different visions of the future of our nation. And mine is focused on progress. Mine is focused on investing in the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the American people.”
Polls show the race between Harris, a Democrat, and Republican former President Donald Trump are locked in a close race for the presidency. The two candidates and their surrogates have focused their efforts on a handful of swing states that will determine who enters the White House next year.
Harris’ campaign is hosting an election night watch party at Howard University, her alma mater, in Washington, D.C.
“The first office I ever ran for was freshman class representative at Howard University, and to go back tonight to Howard University, my beloved alma mater, and be able to, hopefully recognize this day for what it is, is really it’s full circle for me,” the candidate said Tuesday.
Harris has often spoken about the important role the historically Black college played in her life, including her decision to become a lawyer.
As results started to roll, the party at Howard was underway, with the crowd watching returns on giant projectors and at times dancing while a DJ played hits by artists like Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion and Michael Jackson — though there was a big boo from the crowd when CNN called Texas for Donald Trump just after polls closed in that state.
As he nervously checked Georgia’s election updates, Mark Long of Washington D.C. said he was “very excited” to be there supporting Harris after knocking doors for her.
“This is the 152nd anniversary of the first woman who ever voted in America, and she got arrested for it. Whoever wins tonight will be sworn in on Martin Luther King’s federal holiday. I don’t think I serve a God that would do that wrong in a time like this,” he said.
The 58-year-old spent a few years living in Los Angeles and said he admired Harris from her time as a Bay Area prosecutor and as California attorney general. “I’ve always respected where she’s been on principles, fighting for the little guy. You always felt like you had an internal champion in her,” he said.“I definitely know I’m going to witness history,” Long said.
An Oakland native, Harris has already made history as the first woman of color to hold the vice presidency and hopes to become the country’s first female president.
Though she had a Jamaican father and Indian mother, Harris largely avoided talking about identity politics on the campaign trail, choosing instead to focus on kitchen-table issues like the economy, housing costs and reproductive freedom.
She spoke often during the campaign about being raised in a middle-class family, her mother’s excitement at purchasing a home after saving for years, and working summer jobs at McDonald’s to earn spending money.
Harris worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County and San Francisco before winning the election as San Francisco district attorney in 2003. She later won elections as California attorney general and U.S. Senator before becoming President Joe Biden’s vice president in 2021.
Harris has been criticized for not staking out strong positions on polarizing issues or changing her tone. For example, she opposed legalizing recreational marijuana in 2010, but supported it nearly a decade later. She also took heat from communities of color for dubbing herself California’s “top cop” and later styling herself as a reformer.
Harris got a late start in the presidential race after Biden stepped down in July following a disastrous debate against Trump and concerns about Biden’s ability to beat him.
Biden withdrew from the race on July 21 and immediately endorsed Harris, allowing her to quickly consolidate support from other Democrats.
Her elevation to the top of the ticket was met with relief and hope by many in the party, particularly young voters. She received a historic jolt in fundraising and has far outraised Trump this election cycle, though polls show the race virtually tied in a handful of crucial swing states.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 11:44 AM