White House blames 'global headwinds' for Kamala Harris election loss

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said that Biden and Harris have accepted the election results, and one cannot re-write history

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in her first press briefing since Tuesday's election blamed the 'global headwinds' for Democrats' loss in the Presidential elections.

On being asked if US President Joe Biden felt any responsibility for Harris's decisive loss to President-elect Trump, or whether he had any regrets about his decision to seek reelection or to end his candidacy in late July.

"Biden takes responsibility for the loss," Pierre said that the disruption of the supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on several incumbent leaders around the world.  Find special coverage on US Presidential Elections here

 

"Despite all of the accomplishments that we were able to get done, there were global headwinds that because of the COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in the supply chain and it had a political toll on many incumbents around the world. If you look at what happened in 2024 globally, that's what you see," she said.

She did not elaborate, and said, "We'll be mindful and leave the political analysis to the pundits. They're going to dig in, and look under the hood to see what exactly happened. But, what we saw two nights ago, was not unusual to what we have seen from the incumbents around the world on the global stage. There is going to be a lot of post-mortem analysis of what happened in the coming days, weeks, even months. And so I am going to leave those questions to the election experts. That is certainly not my role today," she said.

On being asked if Biden regrets anything from his rule, Pierre said that Biden was proud of everything his administration has done and he gave up the race and selected US Vice President Kamala Harris as the runner of the election.

"When the time came to pass the torch, the party came right behind Harris to support her. It was because she was the right person to do the job. Biden selected her as his running mate in 2020 because of this reason... The President is proud to leave the strongest economy for the next person who's coming for the President-elect... But, what you heard from Biden is that the struggle for the soul of America since our very founding crosses generations and is always ongoing. It is still important today," she said.

Pierre said that Biden and Harris have accepted the election results, and one cannot re-write history.

"President Biden and Vice President Harris accepted the choice that the country has made. We cannot re-write history and we have to remember what happened in 2022. When we came out of the 2022 mid-terms, we saw successful mid-terms for any new administration from over 60 years. It was because of President's policies... those were popular with the American people," she said.