As Tuesday night bled into Wednesday morning and it was increasingly clear that Donald Trump would win the 2024 election in decisive fashion, the Harris-Walz campaign sent home the supporters gathered at its watch party at the vice president’s alma mater, Howard University, and said she would not be speaking.
It ended up taking until 4pm on Wednesday for Kamala Harris to officially concede in a speech ripe with all the verbal gymnastics voters came to expect from the Democrat nominee. Joe Biden and Barack Obama have now also chimed in on Trump’s massive victory, and, on Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Donald Trump, Jr., to discuss the messaging from the left in the wake of the Republicans’ dominance.
Kamala Concedes
As Trump delivered his victory speech surrounded by family, friends, and supporters in Palm Beach, Florida, around 2:30am on Wednesday, Harris was nowhere to be found.
A couple hours earlier, Harris-Walz campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond had walked at the podium at Howard and alerted the crowd there would be nothing more for the night. “We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called,” Richmond said. “You will hear from her tomorrow.”
It took another 15 hours for Harris to make her way to the Howard University stage and deliver her concession speech. It followed a phone call to Trump to offer congratulations. And for those who listened to Harris on the campaign trail, Megyn noted there were plenty of familiar “word salad” phrases to be found. A sampling:
HARRIS: …While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign… the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people… I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations…
The fight for our freedom will take hard work. But, like I always say, we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work can be joyful work. And the fight for our country is always worth it… I would often say when we fight, we win. But here’s the thing, here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win…
Trump told Megyn the speech was “checking the boxes” expected in a concession, but he was largely unmoved. “It sort of read to me like a Dr. Seuss book, but I think that is the point,” he noted. “It usually does with her.”
Biden and Obama React
Before Harris publicly conceded, the media began reporting President Joe Biden had already called Trump to congratulate him and invite to the White House. On Thursday morning, the 81 year old delivered his first public remarks on the topic.
Speaking from the Rose Garden, Biden confirmed he had spoken to the president-elect and said he will work together with his team “to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition” because “that’s what the American people deserve.”
He also praised Harris for running “an inspiring campaign” and called for unity. “A country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made,” Biden said. “Something I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, you see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans.”
Not to be outdone, former President Obama – who helped lead the charge to oust Biden from the campaign – issued his own statement that read, in part:
OBAMA: …In a country as big and diverse as ours, we won’t always see eye to eye on everything. But progress requires us to extend good faith and grace – even to people with whom we deeply disagree. That’s how we’ve come this far, and it’s how we’ll keep building a country that is more fair and more just, more equal and more free.
Megyn said the tone from both men is remarkable given all that has transpired. “I mean, he sounds really sweet and like he is really rooting for [Trump] and for the country to come together,” she noted. “But it is nonsense from all three of these people who either tried to put [Trump] in prison or were in support of it to now be like, ‘I’m the elder statesman, and I will help us unite.'”
Trump agreed, especially as it related to the forty-fourth president. “I think Obama has always been an incredibly divisive character… He has always been a vindictive guy,” he said. “And I think the rest of the country – whether you agree with our policies or not – recognized him for who he actually is now and they weren’t buying it anymore.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Trump by tuning in to episode 938 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.