(NewsNation) — Current U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the nation Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., urging people not to give up following Republican former President Donald Trump’s win in the 2024 presidential election.
Biden came out to a standing ovation as he entered the Rose Garden in the White House.
Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris gave her “whole heart effort, and she and her entire team should be proud of the campaign they ran,” Biden said.
“The struggle for the soul of America, since our very founding, has always been an ongoing debate, and still vital today,” Biden said. “I know for some people, it’s a time for victory, to state the obvious. For others, it’s a time of loss. Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made.”
The “American experiment endures,” Biden said, assuring those hearing him speak that “we’re going to be OK.”
“We need to stay engaged, we need to keep going and above all, we need to keep the faith,” Biden said.
Though “we all get knocked down,” Biden said the measure of one’s character is how quickly they get back up.
“Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated,” he said.
Trump’s win means Republicans will regain control of the White House four years after they lost to Biden in 2020. The GOP also won control of the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, though the fate of the House of Representatives still hangs in the balance.
Trump showed an early lead as polls started closing Tuesday evening in the East Coast with the “red mirage.” He had early wins in swing states like Georgia and North Carolina. Pennsylvania ultimately gave him the final electoral votes to seize the 270 needed to secure the presidency.
Biden called Trump and congratulated the President-elect on his victory and emphasized a smooth transition of power, extending an invitation to the White House.
At 78 years old Trump will become the oldest president to be elected to the White House. Biden previously held that title, as he was 77.
During Democratic nominee Harris’ concession speech, she promised a peaceful transfer of power to Trump, and urged supporters to keep fighting for the ideals of her campaign at the ballot box, in the courts and in the public square.
Several sources in Washington, D.C. told NewsNation that the problem for the Harris campaign was they were just not connecting with Democrats. Along with that, being an incumbent vice president gave Harris some challenges in regards to the economy and immigration. Warnings about the threat of a second Trump presidency didn’t resonate with voters, either, sources added.
Now, sources said, they are going back to the drawing board, as they “faced a shellacking” in this race.
Asked at a White House press briefing whether Biden feels responsible for the election outcome, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president “believed he made the right decision” in letting Harris replace him.
NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
