Harris tells supporters bruised by election loss that ‘no one can walk away’ in forward-looking speech

(CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday presented an image of forward-looking resolve in her first major remarks since conceding her election defeat, imploring young people to “stay in the fight” as the year ends and the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term approaches.

“The movements for civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights – the United States of America itself – would never have come to be if people had given up their cause after a court case or a battle or an election did not go their way,” Harris told a crowd of young leaders in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

The vice president said she has been approached by supporters over the past month “telling me they feel tired, maybe even resigned.”

“Folks have said to me that they’re not sure whether they have the strength, much less the desire, to stay in the fight,” she said. “But let me be very clear: no one can walk away. No one can walk away. We must stay in the fight, every one of us.”

While Harris’ remarks struck an optimistic tone, the setting belied some acknowledgment of where she and Democrats fell short in their failed effort to defeat Trump, who made significant inroads with young people this election cycle.

They also implicitly positioned her as a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders – the continuation of a promise that President Joe Biden also made but ultimately failed to fulfill, instead becoming a bridge to a second Trump administration.

“In moments like this, the true test of our character is how resilient and persistent we are to pursue the future that we all can see,” she said. “Do we throw up our hands, or do we roll up our sleeves?”

Harris gave no concrete plans for her future; her aides remain divided over whether she should run for California governor in 2026 or mount another campaign for presidency two years later. Her mind will likely have to be made up by the end of the summer.

The vice president has kept a low public profile since her loss and concession speech last month. She went to Hawaii for a weeklong vacation in mid-November, returning to Washington in time to volunteer at DC Central Kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. She spent Small Business Saturday shopping at a Washington cookbook store.

She attended the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month and also hosted staff from her office and campaign for holiday parties and black-tie dinners at the Naval Observatory last week.

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this story.

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