Harris voters mourn loss after sober concession speech: ‘There’s nothing left’ | US election 2024

Tthe mood was calm and sober on the Howard University campus as people waited to hear Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech Wednesday afternoon. An area that is usually the central hub of campus life, the Yard was mostly filled with Harris campaign staff, media and members of the public.

Harris appeared about 25 minutes past his scheduled time and opened with a message about unity, community building and coalitions. “My heart is full today,” Harris said. “Full of heart for my country and full of determination.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris encouraged young people to recognize their power and to believe in the impossible. “At this time, it is necessary for people not to become complacent,” she added, “but to commit to organizing and mobilizing.” Harris encouraged his followers to embrace the “light of optimism” and service.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris supporters expressed shock, sadness and disillusionment as they reflected on the harrowing hours since the election was called for Republican nominee Donald Trump. Rather than feeling emboldened to build resistance, voters said they needed time to rest and reset before thinking about next steps after the election.

“It revealed to me the heart of us as a nation,” said 47-year-old Janeen Davis, a county government employee. “It takes away my pride. Being an indigenous person, it hits me hard. Our democracy is built on our indigenous ancestors … and so much has been torn from the indigenous community, and so now that it’s at stake, it’s as if there is nothing left.” Davis said she feared political violence from Trump supporters if his opponents oppose his presidency now. “My personal opinion is because of how the transition happened in the last election,” Davis said, “the best we can to do is to be quiet right now.”

Patricia McDougall, a 63-year-old Howard University employee, said she was upset. She believed that if she had won, Harris would have supported immigrants and helped fight for women’s reproductive rights. “As an immigrant myself (from Belize), I feel bad for the people who will be left behind,” McDougall said. “I thought she was going to move the needle and help people.”

As ambassador to the United Nations, McDougall expressed anxiety about Trump’s foreign policy moves in the future, adding that his “mouth is destroying him.

“We’re all on edge to see what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do it.”

Davis was also concerned that Trump’s presidency could spell disaster for foreign relations. As exit polls revealed how divided the electorate is, Davis warned: “A divided nation cannot stand, so it will make us more susceptible to outside threats.”

Despite her defeat, voters said they were proud of Harris and her campaign team for what they accomplished in the months after inheriting Joe Biden’s campaign after he dropped out of the race over the summer. Nadia Brown, a professor of political science at Georgetown University and a fellow at Howard University, had seen the election results streaming in from campus on election night. Returning to the stage after Harris’ crushing defeat was sobering, but she was in a place of acceptance and didn’t feel sad.

For Brown, she said the election result posed “bigger questions to ask about what the Democratic Party needs to do to maintain the core voting bloc”. She noted that the concerns of young people and progressives who opposed Israel’s war on Gaza, in which more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since last October, were not taken seriously. Brown also questioned the Democratic Party’s strategy, saying, “The base wasn’t strengthened until he moved to swing voters who were the Republicans who were never Trumpists.”

Looking to the future, Brown said the Democratic Party must rethink its outreach strategy. “Black women in particular did a fantastic job. I have no regrets or hard feelings about the way black women came out,” she said. “But now that’s how (when the party) some of the other people.”

Read more about the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage