The captain is supposed to go down with his ship. That's not what Kamala Harris did when she lost the presidency. She jumped ship on Election Night, leaving her supporters adrift in a sea of liberal tears.
Hundreds of Harris voters gathered Tuesday evening for the Harris campaign's now-nixed victory party staged on the grounds of her alma mater, Howard University, a historically black college and university (HBCU).
When things went south, Harris didn't immediately concede defeat to Donald Trump. She absconded, scampering off with her tail between her legs. Cedric Richmond, the Harris campaign co-chair, was trotted out to speak on her behalf. Addressing the audibly upset audience anxiously awaiting her appearance, Richmond announced they wouldn't be hearing from her after all and that it was time to head home.
Kamala Harris Campaign Co-Chair:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) November 6, 2024
"You won't hear from the Vice President tonight." pic.twitter.com/m1sIsn7JqS
Harris campaign staff quickly packed up, and the downcast crowd — what was remaining of it — disbanded, filing out in a zombie-like state. Distraught rallygoers looked around in utter disbelief, all sporting thousand-yard stares as they searched desperately for guidance on how to proceed from here.
The largest black-owned digital publication in the United States, The Atlanta Black Star, which focuses on the black American perspective in politics, highlighted the betrayal Harris voters felt in the fallout of her fleeing ground zero without so much as a goodbye.
On social media, election hawks said she'll go down in history as the "Coward of Howard."
The worst thing Kamala Harris did was to cancel her speech at the Howard University. She was unfair to these people who needed consolation. She will be remembered as the Coward of Howard. #USAElection2024 #HarrisWalz pic.twitter.com/HZBUagQn0d
— ᴋᴀᴍʟᴇsʜ sɪɴɢʜ / tau (@kamleshksingh) November 6, 2024
Harris was "unfair" to her followers who were in dire need of consolation during their darkest hour, one X user remarked.
She missed "a crucial chance to stand with her supporters when they needed her most," another commented. "Win or lose, being present is the cornerstone of trust. This absence leaves a deeper wound."
"It's too late," the X user said of her delayed concession speech, which took place the day after her electoral loss and drew half the crowd size she had the night before at the same site. "Leadership shines brightest in moments of defeat, not just victory."
"The thing that really bothers me was her cowardice last night," a black YouTuber named Michael Sowell said in a scathing video reacting to the race results. "This is why a lot of us felt she wasn't suited for the presidency, her temperament wasn't suited for the presidency."
Sowell noted that "Hillary Clinton did this eight years ago. It was reported that she was inconsolable, crying profusely when she lost on Election Night." She similarly waited until the next day to concede instead of addressing her supporters that night.
Pivoting back to Harris, the YouTube commentator said, "To see the women in that crowd, particularly the black women on the verge of tears — some of them crying — to have that campaign spokesman come out and tell them to go home, many of them probably traveled hundreds of miles to Howard University to hear her speak."
"This is the thing: I don't want to hear anything about, 'Well, she lost.' So what? So what?" Sowell continued. "You know how many people have lost? Every election, there's a loser. And it hurts. It hurts."
No matter how much it hurts, failed candidate still should acknowledge their base, Sowell said. "Your supporters deserve that," he declared, adding that many of them tirelessly canvassed for her as campaign volunteers, knocking on doors and getting out the vote. "A lot of her surrogates, they were doing it 'cause it was a labor of love. They weren't getting compensated for it. They believed in her cause."
"Those people deserved to see you last night," he reiterated. "And for you, your cowardice, because you can't take that L, because you don't want to face the moment, you pull a hissyfit and cancel it."
"I feel for the supporters, man. They went all the way there to hear their candidate speak — win or lose — and the moment they needed consoling from their supposed leader, she left them lurching in the wind. That's f**ked up, man. She's not a leader. She's not a leader at all," Sowell concluded. "She showed her true colors last night."