--- title: Hillary Clinton: Transcript of First Speech Since Concession description: In her first remarks since her concession speech, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Americans to keep fighting for values they believe in canonical: https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-17T17:30:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:53:34.752Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Hillary Clinton's First Speech Since Conceding the Presidential Election og:description: "I will admit, coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me" og:url: https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2341dee836c3e489/6988aee7cd1bba58f1703235/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton Honored At Children's Defense Fund Event og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Hillary Clinton's First Speech Since Conceding the Presidential Election twitter:description: "I will admit, coming here tonight wasn't the easiest thing for me" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2341dee836c3e489/6988aee7cd1bba58f1703235/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Hillary Clinton's First Speech Since Conceding: 'Believe in Our Country, Fight for Our Values'  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 17, 2016 5:30 PM UTC  Former Secretary of State and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton delivers remarks while being honored during the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds Celebration on Nov. 16, 2016 in Washington, D.C. Former Secretary of State and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton delivers remarks while being honored during the Children's Defense Fund's Beat the Odds Celebration on Nov. 16, 2016 in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 17, 2016 5:30 PM UTC In her first remarks since delivering her [concession speech](http://time.com/4564480/read-hillary-clintons-concession-speech-full-transcript/) last week, [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4574425/hillary-clinton-speech-childrens-defense-fund/) on Wednesday urged Americans to continue fighting for values they believe in. “I know this isn’t easy, I know that over the past week, a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was,” she said at the annual gala for the Children’s Defense Fund. “The divisions laid bare by this election run deep, but please listen to me when I say this. America is worth it. Our children are worth it. Believe in our country, fight for our values and never, ever give up.” Clinton’s first job out of law school was for Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, who introduced her at the gala. “I will admit, coming here tonight wasn’t the easiest thing for me,” Clinton said, reflecting on her loss in the [presidential election](http://time.com/4563685/donald-trump-wins/). “There have been a few times this past week when all I wanted to do was just to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again. But, if there is anyone who knows how to pick yourself up and get back on your feet and get to work, it is Marian.” Read her full remarks here: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Hillary Clinton's First Speech Since Conceding: 'Believe in Our Country, Fight for Our Values'","datePublished":"2016-11-17T17:30:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:53:34.752Z","description":"\"I know that over the past week, a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was\"","url":"https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/","keywords":["Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic","transcript","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2341dee836c3e489/6988aee7cd1bba58f1703235/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2341dee836c3e489/6988aee7cd1bba58f1703235/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hillary Clinton Honored At Children's Defense Fund Event","caption":"Hillary Clinton Honored At Children's Defense Fund Event","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4575126/hillary-clinton-childrens-defense-fund-transcript/","name":"Read Hillary Clinton's First Speech Since Conceding: 'Believe in Our Country, Fight for Our Values'"}}]}] ```