Kamala Harris Addresses Supporters After Post-Election Vacation

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Howard University in Washington, on Nov. 6, 2024. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris, who returned this week from a post-election vacation in Hawaii, told supporters during a call with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Nov. 26 that they still have power, even in uncertain times.

“The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted. It is not what we work so hard for, but I am proud of the race we ran,” Harris said in the early part of her remarks, as she praised her former running mate.

Harris, 60, said that “the fight that fueled our campaign, a fight for freedom and opportunity ... did not end on Nov. 5.” The effort includes fighting for an America where women can get abortions whenever they want, the Democrat said.

She then turned to consoling supporters.

“I know this is an uncertain time. I’m clear-eyed about that. I know you’re clear-eyed about it, and it feels heavy,” she said. “I just have to remind you, don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you. You have the same power that you did before November 5th, and you have the same purpose that you did, and you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.”

Harris said that her supporters should keep working hard, organizing, and mobilizing.

The remarks are the first time Harris has spoken publicly since her Nov. 6 concession speech, delivered after President-elect Donald Trump, 78, was declared the decisive winner of the election once it was clear he received the most votes in red states and took key battleground states.

“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” Harris said at the time.

Harris then traveled to Hawaii for a vacation.

“The vice president has taken time off to go spend time with her family. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week in Washington. “I think she deserves some time to be with her family and to have some downtime.”

Harris over the summer replaced President Joe Biden, 82, as the Democrat presidential nominee.

She selected Walz, 60, as her running mate.

Walz opened the call on Tuesday, calling Trump’s win “a bit scary.”

He added later: “I hope all of you take care of yourselves, take care of your families, find a place in your community to heal.”

The call also came after polls showed a plurality of respondents who identify as Democrats would pick Harris as the party’s 2028 nominee. One survey, from Echelon Insights, showed that 41 percent of respondents chose Harris, compared to 8 percent who picked California Gov. Gavin Newsom and 7 percent who selected Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. In the other poll, from Emerson College, she was picked by 37 percent of respondents, with Newsom receiving 7 percent support.

Republicans will have to pick a different candidate in 2028 because Trump is term-limited from running again, having served a first term from 2017 to 2021.

GOP respondents to the Emerson poll primarily favored Vice President-elect JD Vance, 40. Vance was chosen by 30 percent of respondents. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 46, who is prevented from running for governor again due to term limits, was picked by 5 percent. Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, tapped by Trump to help lead a government efficiency review, was third with 3 percent.