DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Democrat congratulates Republican during phone call, discusses importance of peaceful transfer of power, aide says.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has called her rival, Republican Donald Trump, to concede defeat in the United States presidential election, a senior aide has said.
In Wednesday’s phone call, Harris congratulated Trump and also “discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power” and being a president for everyone in the country,” her aide said.
Harris is due to deliver remarks in Washington, DC later on Wednesday, her first public speech since her projected loss to Trump in the November 5 race.
She was supposed to address the throng of supporters on the campus of her alma mater, Howard University, last night, but late in the evening her campaign director told the tearful crowd waiting outside that she would speak the next day after more results were in.
Trump, who has been convicted of felony charges, has comfortably cleared the 270 Electoral-vote threshold required to clinch the White House.
Harris, 60, took over the campaign after President Joe Biden stepped down after stumbling badly in a presidential debate with Trump and amid ongoing concerns about his ability to serve until the age of 86. He dropped out of the race on July 21 , endorsed his vice president , and Harris quickly took over the campaign.
She was seen among many Democrats as a potential saviour for her party, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent who could reach the Oval Office. Four years ago she broke the same barriers in national office by becoming Biden’s second in command.
Harris ran an energetic campaign focused on moving away from Trump’s dark message of economic ruin and immigrants flooding the country. A key platform was women’s reproductive freedom that resonated with many young voters who flocked to her rallies.
In the first presidential campaign since the US Supreme Court struck down constitutional protection for abortion rights, the Harris campaign was looking for a surge of support from women.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome the deep anger among US voters over high inflation, the cost of basic necessities like food and affordable housing , and worries over undocumented immigration, according to exit polls.
Trump’s promise to return to a “golden age” of America saw the key battleground states move decisively away from the Democrats.
He is due to take office on January 20, 2025, returning to power as the 47th US president four years after refusing to accept defeat to the incumbent Biden.
As the sitting vice president , Harris is expected to oversee Congress’s ceremonial certification of Trump’s win. Biden has also said he will attend the inauguration , unlike Trump in 2021 who snubbed his successor.
