On Thursday, the Center for Education Reform will host a discussion on the future of education policy in the wake of the 2024 election.
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Vice President Kamala Harris gave her concession speech following the 2024 presidential election contest.
She encouraged supporters to accept the election results and expressed her commitment to a peaceful transfer of power during this 15-minute speech at Howard University in Washington, D.C., her alma mater.
Please welcome the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.
Good afternoon.
Thank you, all.
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, hear me when I say, the light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.
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 Walls and the Walls 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.
Look, I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it.
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's future.
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.
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 fueled this campaign.
The fight, 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.
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 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.
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.
To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it's gonna be okay.
On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win.
But here's the thing.
Here's the thing.
Sometimes the fight takes a while.
That doesn't mean we won't win.
That doesn't mean we won't win.
The important thing is: don't ever give up.
Don't ever give up.
Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place.
You have power.
You have power.
And don't you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.
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.
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.
And I'll close with this.
There's an adage an 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's the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars.
The light, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth, and service.
H-U!
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.
Vice President Kamala Harris, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign.
Her remarks to supporters in the nation this afternoon after losing the presidential contest to former President Donald Trump.
The crowd is leaving Howard University now here in Washington, D.C. After hearing from the vice president, she walks out to Beyoncé with her husband and the second gentleman, Doug M. Hoff.
In the crowd was her running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.
There he is on a screen.
His family and her family, along with the campaign staff, volunteers, and supporters.
She thanked all of them this afternoon and said that she and the president, President Biden, will help with a peaceful transfer of power.
We want to get your reaction to what you heard from the vice president and this election.
Beyond in Gambrills, Maryland, Republican caller, your turn.
Hi there.
Thank you so much for taking my call.
So I do want to commend her for her speech just now.
I think it was admirable and I think she would make a great public speaker of some sort, perhaps an inspirational speaker.
I don't think she was qualified to be the president of the United States.
And I just got back from a nine-day trip in Europe and I interviewed basically about 15 people and they were all of the same opinion as me that the countries that we would be dealing with are not going to take her seriously when they don't respect women in their own countries.
So I'm grateful that Donald Trump won.
I just changed party affiliation this summer, last summer, and I think we have a great hope for what's to come in the next four years.
My family did so much better under his administration previously.
And what I told all of my friends that were not voting Republican is don't hate the man or if you hate the man, don't hate the policy because it's the Republican policies that caused me to change my party affiliation.
Caller, it sounded like you were saying that she's not qualified because she's a woman, because other leaders across the world would not take her seriously because she's a woman.
Partly, but when I watched her in her, you know, interviews and she can't think on her feet.
She's not a quick thinker.
I don't think that she's, I don't think she's qualified to be the president, not because she's a female, but because she's not a quick thinker.
She's, you know, she would stumble on different topics or not answer different questions because she didn't know what to say.
And I just think, you know, she might be a great lawyer.
She might be a great prosecutor.
just don't think she's qualified to be a great president and that's what we need.
All right, we'll go to Bob next.
Raleigh, North Carolina, Democratic color.
Hey, Greta, I don't think it's complicated at all.
I think the DNC, the media, everyone that was behind her underestimated the negative effects that Gaza was having on young voters.
And I think the people who weren't concerned about what was going on in Gaza were furious over open borders.
I don't think it's complicated at all.
It was policy.
Bob, let me bounce this off of you then from the Washington Post as we continue to look at the crowd here at Howard University.
According to preliminary exit polling, about one in six voters were between the ages of 18 and 29, and they supported Harris over Trump by 13 percentage points.
In 2020, though, President Biden won that age group by a 24-point margin.
Well, let me tell you my personal experience.
A Democratic campaigner came to my door about four days ago, and I very politely told him that I was not going to, I was a loyal Democrat, but I was not going to vote for genocide.
And he told me, he threw his hands up in the air, he was nice, but he said, you're about the 20th person today to tell me that.
So you think that she could not mobilize the base because of the war in Gaza?
I think it had a lot to do with it.
And I think what, and I think those people who weren't bothered by that were upset over open borders.
All right.
Bob there, Democratic caller in North Carolina.
Jerry's in Pennsylvania, Republican.
Hi, Jerry.
Hello.
We're listening to you, Jerry.
Yes.
I'm Republican.
Glad Trump won.
And House should be running for president because she didn't have one vote.
And she doesn't know what she's doing now.
She had four years to do it.
And she didn't do anything.
Jerry of Pennsylvania, Republican.
You heard the vice president say in her remarks this afternoon, 107 days of campaigning.
She picked up the baton from President Biden after he dropped out of the race right before the Democratic convention was held.
Her nomination done virtually.
She did not go through the primary contest, as that caller was just referring to.
And she hit the trail running, but she did not campaign as long as the former president did or traditionally what is done by a presidential candidate.
Farah in California, independent.
Yeah, I'm going to agree with Bob and one of your previous callers.
I'm going to say that I don't think it's necessarily just that she didn't campaign.
I think she, regardless of the fact that she didn't have enough time, she did hit that ground running.
She made up ground.
In fact, it was great.
However, I mean, I used to be them.
I switched and I specifically did not vote because, like Bob said, I cannot vote for genocide.
And ultimately, I think that it's not just that younger population.
I think the missing vote here, we have to acknowledge that there was a Muslim Arab vote and there was a vote of people who are just opposed to genocide that she did not capture.
And she had multiple opportunities to do that.
And she just didn't.
So Farah, you sat this one out.
I did.
I actually ended up voting Green Party.
And how did you vote in 2020?
I voted down.
And before that, have you always voted for the Democrats?
I've always voted down.
Farah in California.
More exit polling from the Washington Post.
Nationally, just over half of men supported President Trump and just over half of women supported Harris.
That pattern was similar in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the battleground states.
That is how the vote broke down by gender, race, and ethnicity.
Nationally, roughly one in 10 voters were Hispanic, a similar share as in 2020, according to early network exit polling.
Harris won a slight majority of Hispanic voters nationally, significantly underperforming Joe Biden's 33-point margin in 2020.
Mark in Pennsylvania, Republican.
Hi, Mark.
How are you doing?
I spoke to you yesterday before I went to go vote, and I'm so glad that Trump carried Pennsylvania.
Like I said to you the other day, both candidates came up to our area, and they were campaigning very hard.
And I'm just glad that in the end, Trump carried Pennsylvania.
And I did like what Harris had to say as far as making the transition of power that she would be there to help the Trump people do that.
I think that was very professional of her organization and very professional of her to offer that to President Trump.
All right.
Mark, a Republican in Pennsylvania.
As he said, Mr. Trump carried Pennsylvania, the Associated Press, calling that at 2.24 a.m. on this Wednesday.
Take a look at cspn.org slash results, and you can see where the votes came in for Mr. Trump in Pittsburgh and the surrounding counties around Pittsburgh.
It was all red around the blue dot of Pittsburgh.
Take a look at the counties close to Philadelphia, red as well.
And then Erie County, the Bellwether County in Pennsylvania, red in 2024.
Here are some headlines for you this afternoon after President Trump was declared the victor by the Associated Press and the other networks, USA Today.
A contest like no other has shaken the old order.
That's USA Today.
Another headline for you is San Francisco Chronicle.
They had a special edition put out.
It's time to unite, quoting Mr. Trump in his speech last night.
And then from Hawaii, the star advertiser, Trump wins.
Caroline, Houston, Texas, Democratic caller.
Hi, Caroline.
Hi.
Thank you for taking my call.
I didn't know.
I muted the call as soon as you told me to.
I muted the TV.
So I was glad that you allowed me to hear her while I was waiting.
However, I'm not happy about this result.
I don't think it was fair.
But unlike her and her team and her staff, me, myself personally, I would have called it rigged just the way Trump would have done had he won.
Why do that?
Why do that when you heard from her?
I'm sorry what you're saying.
That's why she didn't do it because she's more professional than I am.
I'm telling you that I would do that because I think it was rigged as well.
He has never won a popular vote since he's been running.
He never won the popular vote.
All of a sudden, now he's got it by 5 million more people.
I don't believe it.
Why not?
Why not?
What about his message do you think would not have resonated?
He didn't have a message.
He lied the whole time.
He called her all kinds of names.
He disrespected her.
And I don't think it was right for him to do that.
I don't think it's right that another convicted felon can't get a job at a McDonald's or someplace like that, and he can run for president.
I don't understand why that is.
Carolyn, what about those who said I voted for him because I was better off four years ago?
Or the border issue is why I voted for him.
I think Democrats were not voting for him because I wasn't better off four years ago.
Four years ago, I saw people, dead people in refrigerated trucks, because he didn't handle the pandemic well.
He was given a playbook by President Obama about the pandemic because Obama had ideas about what to do in case it ever happened.
He threw it away because he couldn't stand to honor anything that Obama might have given him, so he didn't bother to use it.
And we lost all those people, hundreds and thousands of people we lost because of his inaction.
All right.
Carolyn, when you listened to the vice president this afternoon, do you think that she will carry on in some way in politics?
Again, I really do.
I hope so.
Maybe they'll be ready for a woman then.
Maybe they'll be ready for a person of color then.
Right now, they're not.
Who's they?
Who's there?
Who's they?
Republicans.
They're not ready for it, obviously.
All right.
Caroline, Texas Democratic caller, Jason in North Carolina, Independent.
Hi, Jason.
How are you?
Thanks for making my call.
You bet.
What are your thoughts on the election?
I'm happy with the election.
And for people to say that it's all based because people ain't ready for a person of color and everything else is absolutely ridiculous, I think.
I think he won the popular vote because here in North Carolina, we've got eggs that cost $6 a dozen.
And everybody was a lot better off when Trump was in office.
And when Biden took over, inflation hit.
And it don't matter about the pandemic because both of the presidents screwed up on that aspect, in my opinion.
Okay.
Vicki, Ormond Beach, Florida, a Republican caller.
Hi, Vicki.
Yes, hi.
How are you today?
Doing well, Vicki.
I am very thrilled with the outcome of this election.
It was blatantly obvious she had no platform to stand on whatsoever.
All we ever heard about was joy and happiness.
What are you going to do about the economy?
What are you going to do about the border?
What are you going to do about everything?
And you had the last four years to do it.
You're not brand new.
You didn't just come out of the woodwork.
She had four years to try and make a difference.
All you ever heard was the first thing she's going to do when she gets in office.
Well, I got news for you.
You are in office.
Go down the street, wake up Joe, and have him sign something to go close the border.
Would you?
It's platinumly obvious.
Would you have said that about Vice President Pence?
Will you say that about JD Vance, that he has the power as vice president to change laws, write executive orders, push the agenda?
What I said was that he could go, she could go and speak to the president, okay, and work with the president to get it done.
These are things, that is her job.
She is the vice president.
She's not there just taking up space on the stage when he makes an announcement.
She's there to work.
We haven't seen her in four years.
Vicki in Florida, Republican caller.
More from exit polling on education.
Those with no college degree made up 57% of voters.
And of those voters, 42% voted for the vice president.
56% Voted for President Trump.
Those with college degrees, 43% of the electorate, 55 voting for Vice President Harris, 42 voting for the former president.
If you break it down by race, take a look at those numbers as we continue to take phone calls.
Amita in Memphis, Tennessee, Democratic caller.
Hi, Amita.
Hi, how are you?
Doing well.
I agree with Caroline.
To me, she was awesome.
I loved her.
And it hurts me to see we have so many people.
This man stood up there and talked about our race like a dog.
And you still went out and vote for this man?
That hurts.
That hurts me.
You know, and the other lady talking about, yes, eggs are high.
Eggs are higher than that.
Eggs were high when he was in office.
And I think she was better off than he was to me.
That's how I feel.
And it hurts me to know that our people, not only our people, but women, go out and have this man sit there and talk about them and you still vote for him.
I don't have nothing else to say.
That hurts.
Amita does.
That hurts.
Amita, when the vice president said today, don't throw in the towel to young people, she said, roll up your sleeves.
She was right.
I told my son that because he didn't want to go vote, he said, I don't want to vote for Trump.
I said, well, you got the female.
And he said, I don't know.
I said, well, listen to her.
Because I didn't tell him what to do.
He's 28.
And I said, you do what you know, you do how you feel.
I can't push what you want to do.
And I think a lot of young people where I work at was asking, I say, well, you know what you had to do?
You had to listen to her.
Listen to her.
Just listen to us.
What do you think was the hesitation from those young people to vote for her?
For one, a lot of them, I think they're young and like some of them first time voting.
They don't know what's what.
And listen to Trump.
To me, he was lying from the day one.
Not only this time, he was lying last time.
I know, but stick to those voters.
I don't know.
I guess they was like, I don't know if to vote for Trump, to vote for this, because my son asked me.
And like I said, he's young and he's still in school.
And some other ones is in school.
And as I said, you have to read.
You have to read.
You have to look.
And they were like confused.
So a lot of them was confused.
All right.
Josh, Crookston, Minnesota, Independent.
Josh.
Yes.
You're in Minnesota?
Thanks for taking my call.
How did you vote?
Well, I voted Republican on this ticket.
You know, for me, it's policy.
Her policies were kind of full of holes.
And we have Governor Waltz as a governor, and he doesn't do a very good job in our own state.
So that's kind of the direction me and some other voters kind of took.
And you said you voted Republican this time.
You voted for Democrats in the past.
Yes, we have.
I mean, for us, me, it's all policy.
We're looking for what's best for the country, best for my area.
And for me, Donald Trump is the ticket.
How did you vote in 2020?
I actually voted for Trump in that case, too, based on policy.
And in 2016?
Trump.
Okay.
When's the last time you voted for a Democrat?
The previous election prior to that.
All right.
Josh, in Minnesota.
Joe, Louisville, Kentucky, Republican.
Hi, Joe.
Hey, how are you doing?
Hi, Joe.
Well, honestly, what I think it really comes down to, you know, the fact that she was never voted into the Democratic nominee.
And I think that resonated with a lot of voters in the wrong way.
It was almost like she was just appointed up there.
And, you know, with everything that went on with the hurricanes and stuff like that, it kind of, you know, left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths.
So, as far as like the outcome of the election, I'm not really surprised by it at all.
Joe, what did you think of her remarks this afternoon?
I mean, I thought she took the loss like a champ.
I think she did come out and, you know, say everything that she needed to say.
But as far as her going back and running again, I think she needs to take notes where, you know, she kind of fell short and pour more into the actual people and policies and things like that that would actually help the American people.
Because I feel like, you know, with a lot of interviews she did, there were a lot of, you know, dodging and not answers and things like that.
And, you know, losing the amount of black voters that she did really hurt.
And I mean, she only can look at herself and blame herself.
All right.
That was Joe there in Kentucky, a spokesperson for the British Prime Minister, Kirst Starmer.
With this statement, the Prime Minister spoke to President-elect Donald Trump this evening to congratulate him.
The leaders fondly recalled their meeting in September and President-elect Trump's close.
The statement said, connection and affinity to the UK and looks forward to working with one another.
Kirstarmer is the leader of the Labor Party there in the UK.
The president, the elect heard from other world leaders as well, as he claimed victory yesterday, excuse me, early this morning, that is, after Tuesday's election.
Mildred in New York, Democratic caller.
Hi, Mildred.
Hi.
So I vote Democrat, and I'm flabbergasted.
I didn't expect her not to win, but I went into this thinking it's absolutely feeling just the anxiety from 2016 was hitting.
And I have a one-year-old now and a 24-year-old son as well.
And all I can think of is my daughter is what am I going to do for her?
You know, I mean, this is not how the life should be.
And I wonder why nobody is talking about something along the lines of Elon Musk and his lottery that he's been, he was doing in swing states.
Like, that is completely like we knew Trump was going to try something, but that's what's upsetting.
You know, we knew that this was not, that he would not allow for a free and fair election.
It's just, I just, I don't know at this point.
Mildred, the vice president raised a billion dollars.
She had money on her side as well.
But it wasn't that.
Like, she didn't go pay off the voters or pay a lottery to get them to vote or say they would be loyal to a certain PAC.
That's where Elon Musk came in, and he only did the, it's the news is talking about how he only did it for the people in the swing states.
Mildred, there.
That makes you wonder.
Yeah.
David in Frankfurt, Illinois, Independent.
Hi, David.
Hi.
Thank you for taking my call.
And David, your reaction to campaign 2024 results.
Not surprised either way.
Both candidates are evil.
Both candidates should not be in.
It should have been Jill Stein and the Green Party.
For those who think that that is a, quote, throwaway vote, it's not a throwaway vote.
If she can get 5% of the vote, then we can have a third party in that occasion or eventually.
Maybe it will take years from now, but that's what this country needs right now is either side in office.
And Jill Stein supports freeing Palestine.
That's what needs to happen right now.
David, you and our other viewers can go to cspan.org slash results.
You can dig into each state in this presidential contest.
Jill Stein on the ballot in some of the states, and you'll be able to see how she performed.
If you click on a state, you'll get the results from each of the candidates.
Norman in Wisconsin, Republican.
Hi, Norman.
Hi.
I'm glad that Donald Trump had got elected president because he represents family values according to what God says in the Bible.
And I'm glad that the unborn have a voice.
All right.
We will leave it there at that phone call.
We're going to pick up with another conversation tomorrow morning on the Washington Journal at 7 a.m. Eastern Time.
Again, there are several uncalled races in the presidential contest, the Senate, and in the House for the balance of power in Congress here.
Go to c-span.org slash results for real-time updates on where those races stand to follow along with the balance of power.
Thanks for watching.
Discover the heartbeat of democracy with C-SPAN Voices 2024 as we engage voters ahead of Election Day asking, what are your thoughts on this election cycle?
I'm excited about it.
I love seeing the passion come out of Americans and that true love for this country.
It's just one of the most passionate things that people all over the world hear and respect and feel.
I would say that it's going to be a game changer for the United States for sure.
Like I think either way, like the United States is going to change like no matter which way, which way it goes.
I think it's divisive and it doesn't represent our United States very well.
I think that we're at a pivotal moment in America where we have to make the decision to speak up and speak out and this is the time to do it.
I feel like it's very important.
I feel like our country needs a lot of healing and I hope that the people are able to come out and band together and our voices are truly heard.
I think this is one of the most important election cycles I've lived through and there's so much at stake with our economy and how we live on a day-to-day basis and also just our personal rights.
So I've never really felt an election where it seems so close and it's just so important.
So I hope everyone goes on out there and votes.
C-SPAN's Voices 2024.
Be a part of the conversation.
On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference to talk about interest rates and monetary policy actions.
That'll be live at 2.30 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN, C-SPAN now, our free mobile video app, and online at c-SPAN.org.
Attention, middle and high school students across America.
It's time to make your voice heard.
C-SPAN Student Cam Documentary Contest 2025 is here.
This is your chance to create a documentary that can inspire change, raise awareness, and make an impact.
Your documentary should answer this year's question.
Your message to the president.
What issue is most important to you or your community?
Whether you're passionate about politics, the environment, or community stories, StudentCam is your platform to share your message with the world.
With $100,000 in prizes, including a grand prize of $5,000.
This is your opportunity not only to make an impact, but also be rewarded for your creativity and hard work.
Enter your submissions today.
Scan the code or visit studentcam.org for all the details on how to enter.
The deadline is January 20th, 2025.
I'll look now at how the 2024 election results could impact education policy, funding, parental rights, and the role of the Education Department under a second Trump administration.