Harris plans to speak at Howard amid GOP calls for her to concede

Vice President Harris will speak at Howard University on Wednesday afternoon amid calls for her to concede to President-elect Trump after the Republican won the 2024 election and is set to make an extraordinary return to the White House.

The vice president will deliver remarks at Howard, her alma mater in Washington, D.C., at 4 p.m., for her first public appearance since Trump’s win.

Republicans have called on Harris to concede, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), who congratulated Trump and said conceding is necessary for unity in the country.

“Now, it’s time for the American people to come together, pray for our country, and start the process of a peaceful transition,” Haley said on the social platform X. “That begins with Kamala Harris conceding. You can’t just talk about unity in a campaign, you have to show it regardless of the outcome.”

Harris will also call Trump on Wednesday, NBC News reported.

Harris was expected to attend her election night party at Howard and speak to her supporters but instead didn’t leave the Naval Observatory. While results were favoring Trump, reporters with Harris on Tuesday were told around 12:45 a.m. that Harris would not be leaving her residence.

Harris campaign co-Chair Cedric Richmond told supporters at Howard that the vice president would not address them as the campaign awaited additional election results. Since then, her campaign social media accounts have been silent.

Harris’s lack of an appearance at her own campaign party was reminiscent of the 2016 election in which then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton opted to not speak at her victory party in New York’s Javits Center after it became clear she was going to be defeated by Trump.