--- title: Kamala Harris Concedes to Donald Trump description: Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign from a standing start three months ago. And Wednesday afternoon it came to an end, unable to overcome Donald Trump’s sweeping wins in former Democratic strongholds. canonical: https://time.com/7173622/kamala-harris-concession-speech-election/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-06T22:47:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:48:13.902Z article:section: Politics og:title: After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump og:description: “My heart is full today,” Harris told her supporters og:url: https://time.com/7173622/kamala-harris-concession-speech-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4c6b34fc9fc5c14/698a9bf71868922bc86cf32b/harris-concession-speech-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: harris-concession-speech-01 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump twitter:description: “My heart is full today,” Harris told her supporters twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4c6b34fc9fc5c14/698a9bf71868922bc86cf32b/harris-concession-speech-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0941847c-8b91-4edf-8d58-510994053a98&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump [Watch (HLS stream): After Sweeping Defeat, Harris Concedes to Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g55AWYCA.m3u8) (6:17)  _Published 2024-11-06. Vice President Kamala Harris formally conceded in a speech Wednesday afternoon at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she urged her followers to continue fighting for democracy. Former President Donald Trump will be serving a second term after he was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday by the Associated Press._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Nov 6, 2024 10:47 PM UTC Vice President Kamala Harris formally conceded in a speech Wednesday afternoon at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she urged her followers to continue fighting for democracy. Former President Donald Trump will be serving a second term after he was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday by the Associated Press.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Nov 6, 2024 10:47 PM UTC Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign from a standing start three months ago. And Wednesday afternoon it came to an end, unable to overcome Donald Trump’s sweeping wins in former Democratic strongholds. Harris walked out for her final speech of the campaign on the Yard at her alma mater Howard University, in front of a crowd dotted with reddened eyes and cheeks wet with tears. As she had so many times on the campaign trail, Harris entered to the sound of Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” This time, the song’s lines “a winner don’t quit on themselves” hit differently. As Harris spoke, the crowd’s energy was dulled by the stinging loss. “My heart is full today,” Harris told her supporters, many of whom had been in the same spot in front of Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall the night before hoping for a different outcome. Someone in the crowd shouted, “We love you!” and Harris replied, “I love you back!” She went on to say that she is “full of love for our country and full of resolve.” She said she is “so proud” of the race she ran “and the way we ran it.” She had wanted it to be a victory speech, not a concession, but she said she was willing to accept the outcome, and she expected everyone else to as well. Harris drew a contrast to how Trump handled his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020\. Trump refused to accept his loss and fomented a violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to try to overturn it. “I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotion right now—I get it,” Harris said with a small smile, alluding to some of the personal toll the campaign’s roller coaster has taken. When she mentioned Trump had won the election, boos moved through the crowd. “We must accept the results,” Harris said. Harris made a point of saying that she and President Joe Biden will engage in a “peaceful transfer of power,” which she described as an act that “distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny.” In a pointed critique of Trump’s public demands for loyalty from those who work for him, Harris said that Americans “owe loyalty not to a President or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States.” Harris insisted that while the campaign was over, her work wasn’t done. “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said. She pledged to keep working to ensure women “have the freedom to make decisions about their own body” and fight for rule of law and equal justice. She implored Americans to treat “one another with kindness and respect” and “use our strength to lift people up.” She wanted kids watching to know that "it is going to be ok." She said that her chant on the campaign trail, "when we fight, we win," is still true. But, she added, "sometimes the fight takes a while--that doesn't mean we won't win." The crowd listened intently but lacked the sparkling energy that had marked many of her rallies during her three-month sprint for the White House. She filled arenas with people chanting “We’re not going back,” and crowds eager to hear her describe how, as an attorney general in California, she’d prosecuted predators, fraudsters and cheaters, as she wound up to her punchline: “I know Donald Trump’s type." Her central pitch to voters, that she’d “turn the page” on Trump and work to protect access to abortion and lower costs for middle-class families, didn’t break through. Her message was swamped by Trump’s inflammatory descriptions of immigrants and murderers and rapists, his attacks on critics as the “enemy within,” and his insistence that only he could fix the country’s high prices and immigration challenges. In parting, Harris said she wanted to leave the crowd with a reminder of an adage that says “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” Harris said she knows people feel the country is “entering a dark time” and she hopes that is not the case. “If it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars.” ## Transcript [00:06] My heart is full today, [00:08] full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, [00:14] full of love for our country and full of resolve. [00:20] The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, [00:25] not what we fought for, [00:27] not what we voted for. [00:30] But hear me when I say. Hear me when I say. [00:36] The light of America's promise will always burn bright. [00:46] As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting. [00:55] Now I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it. [01:04] But we must accept the results of this election. [01:08] Earlier today, I spoke with President Elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. [01:15] I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition, [01:21] and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power. [01:32] A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, [01:38] we accept the results. [01:40] That principle, as much as any other, [01:43] distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, [01:49] and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. [01:54] At the same time, in our nation, [01:58] we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, [02:04] but to the Constitution of the United States. [02:11] And loyalty to our conscience and to our God. [02:17] My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, [02:24] while I concede this election, [02:27] I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. [02:35] I will never give up the fight for a future where [02:39] Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, [02:44] and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about [02:50] their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. [02:56] And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, [03:02] in the courts, and in the public square. [03:06] And we will also wage it in quieter ways in how we live our lives, [03:13] by treating one another with kindness and respect, [03:18] by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, [03:25] by always using our strength to lift people up to the young people who are watching. [03:34] It is I love it. [03:42] To the young people who are watching, [03:45] it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. [03:49] But please know it's gonna be okay. [03:52] On the campaign, I would often say, [03:55] when we fight, we win. [03:57] But here's the thing. Here's the thing. [03:59] Sometimes the fight takes a while. [04:02] That doesn't mean we won't win. [04:05] That doesn't mean we won't win. [04:08] The important thing is don't ever give up. [04:13] Don't ever give up. [04:14] Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place. [04:20] You have power. [04:22] You have power. [04:24] And don't you ever listen. [04:26] When anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before. [04:39] You have the capacity to do extraordinary good in the world. [04:46] And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. [04:51] This is not a time to throw up our hands. [04:54] This is a time to roll up our sleeves. [04:58] I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. [05:03] But for the benefit of us all, [05:06] I hope that is not the case. [05:09] But here's the thing, America, if it is, [05:12] let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, [05:17] brilliant billion of stars. [05:22] The light the light of optimism, [05:28] of faith, of truth and service. [05:40] Eate you. And may that work guide us [05:50] even in the face of setbacks toward [05:55] the extraordinary promise of the United States of America. [06:02] I thank you all. [06:03] My God bless you and may God bless the United States of America. 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