Under a sky lit up by blue Jumbotrons outside the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del., Vice President-elect Kamala Harris thanked Democratic supporters for organizing to deliver a victory and spoke about the historic nature of her win.
"Protecting our democracy takes struggle, it takes sacrifice," she said, "but there is joy in it. There is progress because we the people have the power to build a better future."
Harris spoke Saturday evening ahead of President-elect Joe Biden to an energetic crowd, sitting on top of cars and trucks waving American flags. The Associated Press called the presidential race for Biden and Harris earlier Saturday.
"You ushered in a new day for America," she said. "Thank you for turning out in record numbers to make your voices heard," she said. In addition to supporters, she thanked campaign staff and poll workers.
Speaking of her historic win, Harris said was thinking about her immigrant mother and generations of Black women and other women of color who had paved the way for her. Harris is the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to be elected vice president.
Biden, she said, "had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers ... and select a woman as his vice president," she said to honks and cheers. "But while I will be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last."
She wore a white suit, a nod to suffragists who fought for women's right to vote a century ago.
And while she didn't mention the coronavirus by name, she said, "I know times have been challenging, especially the last several months ... but we have also witnessed your courage," referring to the pandemic that has killed nearly a quarter million Americans.
Despite that, she said, "you voted, and you delivered a clear message: You chose hope."
Introducing Biden at the event, Harris praised him as a man with purpose, a big heart — "a healer, a uniter, a tested and steady hand."
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