Claire McCaskill got teary-eyed on MSNBC thinking back on Kamala Harris’ “inspiring” career in the wake of her presidential election loss.
While on MSNBC watching the vice president’s concession speech Wednesday, the former Missouri senator choked up thinking back on the candidate’s tough climb from DA to becoming vice president and the Democratic Party’s nominee – calling it “really hard stuff.”
“I’m so proud of her,” McCaskill said tearily. “I don’t think people realize how hard it is to get to where she was. As a woman, getting elected DA, it’s not easy, guys. People don’t trust women to be in charge of making decisions about life and death and crime, and being frankly a supervisor in some ways over police. Her fighting through the primary thicket of California politics to become attorney general, really hard.”
She continued, “To be vice president and to step into the most difficult situation in the world, where she had to be completely loyal to Joe Biden and respectful of the fact that he had chosen her. Such political skill. It’s inspiring. People who don’t understand what she had to do to get to get to this moment. I’m just very proud of her.”
Harris conceded to President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon at her alma mater, the historically Black college Howard University. Her speech made it clear while she was conceding the election, she had no plans to concede “the fight that fueled this campaign.”
“My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of resolve. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said from the Washington D.C. campus. “But hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
“I know folks are feeling and experiencing a range of emotions right now. I get it, but we must accept the results of this election. Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition, and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” Harris continued. “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny — and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”
Though not every state has been officially called by major media outlets including the Associated Press, Trump currently holds 291 electoral votes to Harris’ 223 – only 270 are required to win the presidency.
Watch the full video of Claire McCaskill talking about Kamala Harris above.
