Kamala Harris pledges to guarantee peaceful transfer of power

Vice President Kamala Harris delivering her concession speech. Pic/PTI

Shortly after conceding the presidential race to Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris urged supporters to accept the election results and pledged to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.

60-year-old Harris said the "light of America's promise will always burn bright" and vowed to keep up the "fight" that fuelled her campaign.

Supporters cry during Harris's speech

"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," she said.

"The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But the light of America's promise will always burn bright," she added.

Front pages reporting on the US elections. Pic/PTI

"I know folks are experiencing a range of emotions. But we must accept the results of this election," she said.

Harris said she spoke to President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory.

"I told Trump that we will help him and his team in their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transition of power," she said.

Biden blamed by Harris allies for VP's resounding defeat

Joe Biden

Joe Biden's name wasn't on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris's resounding defeat as his loss, too.

Some of the vice president's backers are expressing frustration that Biden's decision to seek re-election until this summer all but sealed his party's loss of the White House.

"The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden," said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris' unsuccessful run. "If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place."

"Maybe in 20 or 30 years, history will remember Biden for some of these achievements, said Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University. "But in the shorter term, I don't know he escapes the legacy of being the president who beat Donald Trump only to usher in another Donald Trump administration four years later."

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