By Moriah Balingit
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised report sums in final month’s election loss to President-elect Donald Trump and urged them to not lose hope and to stay politically engaged.
Biden and Harris, together with their spouses, in remarks on the Democratic Nationwide Committee vacation reception sought to buck up key donors who the Democratic Celebration wants to remain dedicated because it tries to choose up the items. Republicans scored a decisive victory taking the White Home and Senate whereas sustaining management of the Home in an election the place donors of all political stripes spent about $4.7 billion.
“We all get knocked down. My dad would say when you get knocked down, you just got to get up,” Biden stated. “The measure of a person or a party is how fast they get back up.”
Harris, who stepped in because the occasion’s presidential nominee after Biden ended his marketing campaign in July following his disastrous debate efficiency, praised donors for placing their time — and checkbooks — into backing her and Democrats that they believed in.
Democrats, their allied tremendous PACs and different teams raised about $2.9 billion, in comparison with about $1.8 billion for the Republicans. Harris famous that Democrats raised a whopping $700 million over simply 700 occasions organized by the Democratic finance committee.
“You rallied, you opened your homes, you reached out to your friends and your family,” stated Harris, who will quickly start weighing in earnest her personal future and whether or not to make one other White Home run. “You put your personal capital — and by that I mean your relationships — at stake to talk with people because you care so deeply, and you connected with people and took the time to remind them of what is at stake and what was at stake.”
Whereas Biden acknowledged the sting that Democrats proceed to really feel about final month’s loss, he stated they need to take satisfaction in what they completed.
The administration’s signature achievements embrace a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure invoice, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to spice up semiconductor manufacturing within the U.S., and a surge in federal environmental spending via the Inflation Discount Act, which Biden signed into legislation in 2022 after it cleared Congress solely with Democratic votes.
“We could never have gotten as much done as we did without you,” Biden stated. “You not only contributed to the campaign, but you did something, I think, even more important. You were willing to lend your names, your reputation, your character to the effort.”
Biden stated that he supposed to stay engaged with occasion politics as soon as he leaves workplace on Jan. 20. He additionally predicted that he anticipated Harris would stay a central character within the occasion’s future.
“You’re not going anywhere kid. We aren’t letting you,” Biden stated to Harris.
Initially Revealed: December 15, 2024 at 4:52 PM PST
