Kamala Harris urges supporters to 'stay in the fight' as Trump's return looms
WASHINGTON − Kamala Harris told supporters "we must stay in the fight" in the vice president's most extensive remarks since her election loss as demoralized Democrats brace for Donald Trump's White House return.
Harris, speaking Tuesday to high school and college students in Largo, Maryland, said she has received tens of thousands of letters from Americans of "every walk of life" since the November election, which Trump won by a comfortable 312-226 margin in the Electoral College. Republicans also gained control of the Senate and reclaimed a slim House majority.
"Yes, there is disappointment, but there is also resolve for the future," Harris said in a 15-minute address, adding that "no one can walk away" from looming fights over equality, freedom and whether the economy favors the rich or the working class. "We must stay in the fight, because that is the responsibility, in my opinion, that comes with the privilege of being an American."
Harris' election loss followed a 107-day snap campaign after she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. She joined Democrat Hillary Clinton as the only major-party female presidential nominees in U.S. history, with both going on to lose to Trump. The election exposed mounting struggles for Democrats among working-class voters who lack college degrees.
Trump, who will be sworn into office Jan. 20, is expected to use executive orders to dismantle Biden policies on immigration, climate and a host of other areas.
Harris pointed to the determination Americans displayed during "moments of challenge" in the past. "The movements for civil rights, women's rights, workers rights, the United States of America itself would never have come to be if people had given up their cause after a court case or a battle, or an election did not go their way," she said.
"The true test of our commitment is whether, in the face of an obstacle, do we throw up our hands, or do we roll up our sleeves?"
The 60-year-old Harris hasn't said what's next for her after she leaves the White House. She has been mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for governor in her home state of California in 2026, when Gov. Gavin Newsom's term ends. Or Harris could decide to run for president again in 2028, when Democrats will look to a wide bench with no obvious frontrunner to be their next party's next standard-bearer.
Harris did not mention Trump by name in her speech but turned to some of the themes she discussed on the campaign trail that sought to draw distinctions with the incoming president.
She said America is at its best when guided by principles of "dignity and decency, fairness, freedom and opportunity for all" and when "we recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down ‒ it's based on who you lift up."
Harris told the audience of young people they are "rightly impatient for change" and "reflect the "best of the America I have seen, be it during the campaign, during my four years as vice president, and throughout my life."
She ended her remarks by urging them to get some rest over the holidays and to come back "ready to march into the future."
"Chin up, shoulders back, and forever impatient for change," she said.This article was updated to add a new video.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.