Election coverage for Chicago and the surrounding area including results, analysis and voter resources.
After months of campaigning for Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama released a statement Wednesday acknowledging her loss in the 2024 presidential election.
“This is obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, given our profound disagreements with the Republican ticket on a whole host of issues,” the Obamas wrote in a statement posted to social media. “But living in a democracy is about recognizing that our point of view won’t always win out, and being willing to accept the peaceful transfer of power.”
The Obamas both delivered headlining speeches in their hometown of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention in August.
At the convention, the former first lady delivered a message of hope to a packed United Center.
“A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about: it’s the contagious power of hope,” she said in August. “The anticipation, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us.”
During his convention speech, the former president slammed Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” holding his hands a short distance apart and drawing huge laughs.
Harris conceded to a crowd of supporters at Howard University Wednesday before the Obamas released their statement. They echoed her call to Democrats to continue their fight.
“In a county 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.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
