Biden and Harris urge Democrats to fight on in rare joint appearance
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Vice-President Kamala Harris embraces President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Committee's holiday reception in Washington DC. on Dec 15.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris made a rare post-election joint appearance on Dec 15 to thank donors who raised more than US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) during the Democrats’ unsuccessful 2024 election cycle
“Our spirit is not defeated. We are not defeated... We are strong, we are clear about why we are in this,” Ms Harris told guests at a holiday party hosted by the Democratic National Committee.
“We cannot let any circumstance or situation or individual ever take away our power... we know what we stand for, and that’s why we know what to fight for.”
Mr Biden said it was critical to keep fighting.
“My dad would say, when you get knocked down, you’ve just got to get up, get up. The measure of a person or a party is how fast they get up.”
Democrats are agonising over the Nov 5 election results, which saw Ms Harris lose all seven battleground states, the electoral college vote and the popular vote to Trump.
Ms Harris and Mr Biden’s joint appearance, along with their spouses, was a show of unity after an election that has resulted in finger-pointing across the party. The duo have rarely appeared together in public since Mr Biden dropped out of the presidential race
Ms Harris’ future is uncertain, although some Democrats are urging her to run for governor of California, her home state.
Mr Biden, who leaves office on Jan 20, has said he intends to stay active in politics and work to heal deep divisions roiling the United States, a message he repeated jokingly on Dec 15.
“The bad news for you all is I ain’t going nowhere. We’re going to stay engaged.” REUTERS
