Vice President Harris spoke Tuesday about her loss to President-elect Trump on Election Day, seeking to share her optimism with supporters to remain “in power.”
“As a reminder, don’t let others take away your power. You have the same power, the same purpose, and the same ability to engage and inspire as you did before November 5th. It’s the same.” said in the video Democratic Party shared on social platform X.
“So never let anyone or any situation take away your power,” she added.
The video message was an excerpt from a meeting with the party's finance committee on Tuesday in which she and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), discussed the race as her campaign spending comes under scrutiny. .
During the phone conversation, Harris thanked top donors who supported tickets despite a shortage earlier this month.
“The outcome of this election is obviously not what we wanted. It's not something we worked hard for, but we're proud of the race we ran and appreciate your support in this race. The role was important,” Harris said. “What we accomplished in 107 days was unprecedented. Think about the coalition we built.”
The vice president also noted that he had raised nearly $1.5 billion during his nearly three-month campaign. About 8 million donors contributed to the ticket, she added, with an average donation of $56.
“The work you did was [a] The effects last,” she continued in her message. “Again, the election didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, and certainly not what we had planned, but the effort we put into it was worth it to the people. Understand that it was about empowerment. That's the spirit of what we did.”
Other members of Harris' team appeared on the podcast “Pod Save America” on Tuesday and gave further insight into the campaign's decision-making process.
Stephanie Cutter, a senior campaign adviser, said Harris was “unwilling” to publicly break with President Biden and wanted to avoid the negative headlines such an action could cause. said that he had done so.
“She had no intention of changing that precedent for whoever the future presidential-vice-president partnership would be, because that would mean a series of… “Because it means a different issue, 'our democracy now,'” Cutter said on the podcast.
Harris' campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, defended the vice president amid claims that Harris avoided the media, calling the idea “bullish.”
“Looking back, I think we should have communicated our strategy more early on about the podcast and who we are.” [trying to] But the time it took to reach people was limited. [we were trying to] we arrived and we were [trying to] Go to them,” O'Malley Dillon said on the podcast.
“But countering the narrative that we didn't do anything or were afraid to be interviewed is completely bullish,” she added.
Harris ultimately conceded to Trump in a speech at her alma mater, Howard University. The president-elect's victory has upset Democrats, who also lost both chambers of Congress, and debate continues over the cause of his struggles at the polls and how to reverse his defeat.
