Harris says she’s full of ‘resolve,’ urges supporters to ‘accept the results of this election’ in concession speech
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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris said her heart is “full of resolve” after losing the presidential election to former President Donald Trump.
“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,” Harris said Wednesday at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.
“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 as long as we never give up,” Harris said.
“We must accept the results of this election,” she said.
Harris’ defeat came as Trump won the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin overnight. Trump won another swing state, Michigan, on Wednesday.
Trump’s victory underscores just how deep voters’ frustrations were surrounding inflation and immigration, Republicans’ two top issues this election cycle as polls consistently showed Americans’ unhappiness with how President Joe Biden handled them. Trump’s return to the White House also suggests that Democrats were not motivated enough by the prospect of electing the first female president and that its base’s fury over the Supreme Court’s revocation of constitutional abortion protections has waned since 2022.
Harris had an extremely hurried campaign, which began this summer when Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president.
Biden, who plans to address the nation on Thursday, spoke with Harris on the phone Wednesday to congratulate her on “her historic campaign,” the White House said.
Trump and Harris also spoke by phone on Wednesday, according to the Trump campaign. Harris told Trump she will work with Biden to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, unlike the transition in 2020, according to an email Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon sent to campaign staff.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(BELLEVUE, Wash.) — Two people have been killed by falling trees in Washington state as a powerful storm hits the Pacific Northwest.
In Bellevue, a tree fell into a home, hitting and killing a woman while she was in the shower Tuesday night, Bellevue fire officials said.
In Lynwood, a woman in her 50s was killed when a tree fell on a homeless encampment, officials said.
More than 500,000 customers are without power in Washington state on Wednesday.
The storm exploded into a bomb cyclone off the coast, near Vancouver Island, Canada, where winds gusted near 101 mph.
A bomb cyclone means the pressure in the center of the storm drops 24 millibars within 24 hours.
Wind gusts reached 50 to 84 mph from Northern California to Washington.
As the storm sits and spins over the ocean this week, it will help to push a plume of Pacific moisture called an atmospheric river into Oregon and Northern California.
Alerts are in effect through Friday for flooding, snow, avalanches and high winds.
Some places could see more than 1 foot of rain this week. A flood watch has been issued in Northern California.
As of Wednesday morning, Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes need to secure the presidency, and that could mean major changes to the health care landscape.
During his campaign, Trump vowed to make the Affordable Care Act “better” and to protect “women.” He also suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would shape the public health agenda of his administration.
This is what a second Trump term would mean for health care policies including health insurance and reproductive rights.
Future of the ACA and Medicare
Trump has been inconsistent on what his plans are regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark law signed in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama.
During his first term, Trump tried several times to repeal the ACA but was unsuccessful. In November 2023, he also vowed to replace it in a post on his social media planform, Truth Social.
Since then, he has shifted course. In March, Trump said is “not running to terminate” the ACA but said he wanted to make it “better” and “less expensive,” in a post on Truth Social.
During the September presidential debate, he said he had “concepts of a plan” and said it would be “better health care than Obamacare,” but offered few details.
There could also be changes to Medicare, a federal health insurance program for people aged 65 or older and younger people with disabilities.
Trump has promoted Medicare Advantage, which is run by commercial insurers. What’s more, Project 2025 — a plan of conservative policy proposals proposed by the Heritage Foundation and not endorsed by Trump — has proposed Medicare Advantage be the default option for Medicare coverage.
Experts have said this could privatize the program and prevent people from receiving care from doctors and hospitals that don’t accept Medicare Advantage.
Also at risk are those with pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA, insurers cannot charge more or deny coverage to someone or their child because of a pre-existing health condition. However, Vice President-elect JD Vance has suggested placing people with chronic conditions into separate risk pools, which could raise premiums for those with pre-existing conditions.
Kennedy vows to remove fluoride from drinking water, vaccine review
During a charity dinner last month in New York City, Trump pledged that Kennedy would “go wild on health.”
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no public health or medical background, has been vocal on certain health policies he would like to tackle including fluoride in drinking water and review of vaccines.
In an interview with NPR on Wednesday morning, Kennedy doubled down on his promise that the Trump administration will recommend that local governments remove fluoride from their water supplies.
He has claimed that fluoride in drinking water affects children’s neurological development and that other countries which have removed fluoride from their water supplies have not seen an increase in cavities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says fluoride prevents cavities and repairs damaged to teeth caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the agency.
Additionally, Kennedy told NPR he would work “immediately” to increase research into the safety of vaccines, though he insisted, “We’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody.”
“We are going to make sure that Americans have good information,” he said. “Right now, the science on vaccine safety, particularly, has huge deficits in it. We’re going to make sure those scientific studies are done, and that people can make informed choices about their vaccinations and their children’s vaccinations.”
Top U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have said that FDA-approved vaccines are “high quality, effective, and safe.”
In an interview with NBC News, he also suggested firing many workers at the FDA’s nutrition department.
Uncertainty about the future of reproductive rights
Although Trump has taken credit for ending Roe v. Wade — which was overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 — he was hesitant during his campaign to state his stance on abortion.
During the presidential debate in September, he said he believed in exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life but declined to say if he would veto a national ban.
However, in October, he wrote on the social platform X that he would not support a federal abortion ban, and said abortions laws are up to the will of the voters in individual states.
Trump told CBS News in August he would not use the 150-year-old Comstock Act to ban mail delivery of medication abortion pills, which drew rebuke from some conservatives and anti-abortion advocates.
In September, during a rally in Pennsylvania, he said he would be a “protector” of women and that they “wouldn’t be thinking about abortion” if he were elected. He doubled down on these claims last month during a rally in Wisconsin, with Trump saying he would “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.”
He has not offered specifics on what being a “protector” means in this capacity.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s impending inauguration as the next president does not impact his $454 million civil fraud judgment, a lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a letter to the president-elect’s lawyer Tuesday.
Trump and his adult sons liable owe approximately $490 million including interest in their civil fraud case after a judge ruled last year that they repeatedly inflated Trump’s net worth to secure better loan terms over a decade of business dealings. Trump has appealed the ruling.
Because presidents do not have immunity from civil litigation, James plans to continue defending her judgment against Trump during his appeal of the case, the letter said.
“The ordinary burdens of civil litigation do not impede the President’s official duties in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution,” New York Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote in a letter to D. John Sauer, Trump’s appellate lawyer and nominee for solicitor general.
Last month, Sauer requested that James drop her civil case against Trump to “cure” partisan divides and improve “the health of our Republic.”
“In the aftermath of his historic election victory, President Trump has called for our Nation’s partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country. This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle,” Sauer wrote, citing the recent dismissal of Trump federal election interference and classified documents cases.
Vale rejected the request, saying in her letter that there is “no merit to your claim that the pendency of defendants’ own appeal will impede Mr. Trump’s official duties as President.”
Because the New York attorney general’s case is civil, James faces no restriction in continuing to pursue her case as Trump returns to the White House.
“Accordingly, the various actions taken by the Special Counsel’s office or the District Attorney’s Office of New York County in the respective criminal cases brought by those offices against Mr. Trump are irrelevant here,” Vale’s letter said.
A ruling on Trump’s appeal of the judgment could come at any time.
