Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a> formally conceded the 2024 election on Wednesday, urging her supporters not to despair about her loss to President-elect Donald Trump<\/a> and to \u201cnever give up the fight for our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Good afternoon. Good afternoon everyone, good afternoon. Thank you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So let me say, and I love you back, and I love you back. So let me say my heart is full today. 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 resolve. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say the light of America\u2019s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.<\/p>\n To my beloved Doug and our family, I love you so very much. To President Biden and Dr. Biden, thank you for your faith and support. To Governor Walz and the Walz family, I know your service to our nation will continue. And to my extraordinary team, to the volunteers who gave so much of themselves, to the poll workers and the local election officials, I thank you. I thank you all.<\/p>\n Look, I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it \u2014 and the way we ran it. Over the 107 days of this campaign, we have been intentional about building community and building coalitions, bringing people together from every walk of life and background, united by love of country, with enthusiasm and joy in our fight for America\u2019s future.<\/p>\n And we did it with the knowledge that we all have so much more in common than what separates us now. I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it, but we must accept the results of this election. Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.<\/p>\n A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle as much as any other distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it. 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 to our God. My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign, the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up.<\/p>\n I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence and America, we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law, for equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.<\/p>\n And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square, and we will also wage it in quieter ways, in how we live our lives, by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up to fight for the dignity that all people deserve. The fight for our freedom will take hard work. But like I always say, we like hard work, hard work is good work. Hard work can be joyful work. And the fight for our country is always worth it. It is always worth it.<\/p>\n To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it\u2019s going to be okay. On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win. But here\u2019s the thing, here\u2019s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t win. That doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t win. The important thing is, don\u2019t ever give up. Don\u2019t ever give up. Don\u2019t ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. You have power, and don\u2019t you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.<\/p>\n You have the capacity to do extraordinary good in the world. And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.<\/p>\n This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together. Look, many of you know, I started out as a prosecutor, and throughout my career, I saw people at some of the worst times in their lives, people who had suffered great harm and great pain and yet found within themselves, the strength and the courage and the resolve to take the stand, to take a stand, to fight for justice, to fight for themselves, to fight for others. So let their courage be our inspiration. Let their determination be our charge.<\/p>\n And I\u2019ll close with this, there\u2019s an adage and historian once called a law of history, true of every society across the ages, the adage is, only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time, but for the benefit of us all,I hope that is not the case. But here\u2019s the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a billion brilliant stars, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service. H-U [from Howard University\u2019s motto Veritas et Utilitas, which translates to \u201cTruth and Service,\u201d and to which the crowd responded: \u201cYou know,\u201d the school\u2019s call and response).<\/p>\n And may that work guide us, even in the face of setbacks toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America, I thank you all. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. I thank you all.<\/p>\n (Skip to the 24.40-minute mark to watch the speech.)<\/p>\nHere\u2019s a full transcript of Kamala Harris\u2019 speech:<\/h2>\n
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