Democrats hoped Harris would rescue them, she called Trump to concede

Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a senior adviser to the vice president.

The aide, who declined to be identified discussing a private conversation, said Harris talked about the need for a peaceful transfer of power.

Harris, once viewed as a potential saviour for the Democratic Party after Joe Biden's reelection campaign stalled, is reckoning with a profound rejection by American voters in this year's presidential election.

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She trailed in every battleground state to Donald Trump, a man she described as an existential danger to the country's foundational institutions. And Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for the White House even after two impeachments, felony convictions and his attempt to overturn his previous election loss.

Harris planned to deliver a concession speech Wednesday at 4 pm, her office announced. She'll speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched returns Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as Trump pulled ahead in battleground states.

In a bitter footnote for Harris, as the sitting vice president she is expected to oversee Congress' ceremonial certification of the election. 

It's the same role that Mike Pence played four years ago, when Trump directed his supporters to march on the US Capitol. Although critics said the violent insurrection crystallised Trump's threat to American democracy, that ultimately did not dissuade voters from electing him again.

Harris became the Democratic candidate after Biden, who was already struggling to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86 years old, stumbled badly in his June 27 debate with Trump.

He dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his vice president, who swiftly unified the Democratic Party around her candidacy.

It was a remarkable twist of fate for Harris. Four years earlier, her own presidential campaign flamed out and revealed the political limitations of someone once dubbed the female Barack Obama. Even though Biden chose Harris as his running mate, she languished in the role after taking office as the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Some Democrats started writing her off when they pondered the party's future after Biden. But Harris found fresh purpose after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and she became the White House's leading advocate for abortion rights.

Harris also made a more concerted effort to network with local politicians, business leaders and cultural figures, forging connections that could serve her down the road.

The moment arrived sooner than she anticipated, and she was catapulted into the presidential race with Biden's departure only a month before the Democratic National Convention.

Harris instantly reset the terms of the contest with Trump. She was 18 years younger and a former courtroom prosecutor going up against the first major presidential candidate convicted of crimes. Her candidacy energised Democrats who feared they were destined for defeat with Biden at the top of the ticket.

But she also faced steep odds from the beginning. She inherited Biden's political operation with just 107 days until the end of the election, and she faced a restless electorate that was eager for change.

Although Harris pitched a new way forward," she struggled to meaningfully differentiate herself from the unpopular sitting president. In addition, she had limited time to introduce herself to sceptical voters, who never cast a ballot for her in a presidential primary.

Democrats now face the prospect of picking up the pieces during a second Trump presidency, and it's unclear what role Harris will play in her party's future.