After months of campaigning, November 5 turned out to be a difficult night for Kamala Harris.
She had hoped for a promotion from Vice President to President, but Americans instead voted to bring Donald Trump back to the White House for his second term with a decisive win for the Republican candidate.
Those hopes of winning were supposed to be celebrated with a victory rally at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a historically Black college where Harris was an undergraduate.
Supporters flocked to the campus, where the Democratic candidate, if successful, was due to speak from a blue stage in front of the main campus building.
Holding her celebrations at the college would have been a momentous moment for Harris personally. Had her campaign been successful, she would have become the first president to graduate from a historically Black college—she graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in political science and economics.
She launched her first unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2019 from the same spot.
"You're standing on sacred, hallowed ground that has been witness to history," university president Wayne A.I. Frederick told the crowd before the result was known. "You stand on grass sown by our ancestors, flanked by buildings whose bricks have witnessed ex-slaves become scholars. For tonight, our yard is open in unity for all people, all races, creeds, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds."
Plenty had come out in the hopes of sharing that moment with Harris. Images from the night show swathes of supporters crowded on the lawn awaiting the result.
Initially, her supporters were in good spirits, hopeful that their side would win. American flags were in abundance, and some supporters wore T-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the vice president's face. Sorority sisters decked themselves out in pink and took selfies. Choir singers performed a rendition of "Oh Happy Day," and a DJ kept the tunes flowing as Democrats waited for signs of victory.
But as the night progressed, and it became ever clearer that the Democrats would not garner the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency, the signs of despondency were well on show. Instead of being met with a triumphant Harris, at around 12:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday the crowd got campaign cochair Cedric Richmond, who told the crowd that Harris would not make any speeches.
"We still have votes to count. We still have states that have not been called," Richmond said. "You will hear from her tomorrow."
From then, supporters flowed away from the campus, while some held their heads in their hands as they realized Trump would almost certainly become the 47th president. According to CBS reporter Nidia Cavazos, the media was told to turn off its lights before 1 a.m. ET.
Left behind were empty chairs and abandoned Star Spangled Banners illuminated by the blue light of a screen bearing the Harris-Walz logo.
Meanwhile, a victorious Trump spoke to his supporters at his own party in West Palm Beach, Florida, following the news that several key battleground states had voted in his favor.
"This is a magnificent victory for the American people, that will allow us to make America great again," he said. "America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate."
He added: "It's a political victory that our country is never seen before, nothing like this. I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president."
English (US) ·