Donald Trump won the presidential election on Tuesday night, with most networks calling the race after midnight and Trump giving a victory speech starting after 2 a.m. on the East Coast.
Similar to Hillary Clinton on election night in 2016, Kamala Harris did not address her supporters, who this time gathered at Howard University in Washington. Instead, campaign advisor Cedric Richmond, much like John Podesta at the Javits Center eight years earlier, told supporters that Harris would not be addressing the crowd that night.
Harris for President Campaign Co-Chair Cedric Richmond: “We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called yet. We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken. So, you won’t hear from the Vice… pic.twitter.com/6bUXCdKAxW
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 6, 2024
One Fox News host had an issue with Harris’ lack of an election night concession speech.
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Dana Perino, the Bush Administration press secretary-turned-Fox commentator, took issue with Harris not conceding before Trump spoke.
“I remember when John Kerry did this to George W. Bush in 2004,” she said on Fox, per a Mediaite transcript. “And you you worked so hard. And I know that they’re disappointed, but you should concede and let your opponent have their election night and let them – everybody that’s there at Trump – at Mar a Lago, where are they? They’re in Palm Beach. Let them have their moment without anyone.”
Kerry, in 2004, did not concede the race until the following day, which was also the case for Clinton in 2016. Trump in 2020, of course, never conceded at all, and maintains to this day that he won that election.
“I don’t think it’s right.” Fox News anchor Dana Perino bashes Kamala Harris for not immediately conceding the election to Trump. Note: Trump has yet to concede the 2020 election results. (Video: Fox News) pic.twitter.com/peJKdWbDgq
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) November 6, 2024
In the case of Tuesday night, Richmond’s speech at Howard came hours before any network called the election for Trump. It was done, it appears, to indicate to the assembled crowds that it was time to go home, rather than keep them there for hours more, should Harris have needed to give a concession speech sometime long after midnight.
Ironically, John Kerry wrote an op-ed for CNN in 2016, in which he defended himself for having conceded the race too quickly.
Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.
