In a shock move, Kamala Harris has ditched her Watch Party at Howard University. The campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond addressed the crowds with a short 90-second message basically telling everyone that they wouldn’t be hearing from the Vice President tonight.
The campaign simultaneously issued a memo to staffers indicating that they should go home and “get some sleep” (no, that’s not a joke) — and that there would be a more complete look at the results sometime after 3am. (Also… not a joke.) Here’s Cedric Richmond, who was apparently sent to disperse the crowds, which started to clear out even before his remarks as the mood dropped with every bit of news inevitably putting President Trump more and more in the lead.
Cedric Richmond, Kamala's campaign co-chair, does his best John Podesta impression:
"We still have votes to count, we still have states that have not been called yet…so you won't hear from the vice president tonight."
Yikes!! pic.twitter.com/1ItcjA66ri
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 6, 2024
🚨#BREAKING: The Kamala Harris campaign has canceled all her public appearances tonight and will not be addressing supporters at what was supposed to be a celebration. With Crowds of people are now leaving, with some visibly upset and even in tears. pic.twitter.com/kMvS7197vX
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 6, 2024
According to reporting from News Nation Now, the emailed letter to staff came from campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon and indicated that this was “exactly what we prepared for.”
The chair of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign sent out a letter to staff on Tuesday night, assuring them that the current closeness of the race is “exactly what we prepared for.”
In the email, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said staff have known all along that this is a “razor-thin race.”
“While we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states,” O’Malley Dillon wrote. “And we feel good about what we’re seeing.”
Harris was not expected to speak Tuesday night, her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond said. Her campaign says she will address the nation Wednesday after more votes have been counted.
“Those of you who were around in 2020 know this well: It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted. That’s how our system works. What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours,” O’Malley Dillon wrote. “This is what we’ve been built for, so let’s finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow.”
I’ve seen enough. All the people at the Howard University Kamala Victory Party are going home. It’s over. Let the meltdowns and flights to Canada commence! pic.twitter.com/4G5jlG9bPs
— PhotographicFloridian (@JackLinFLL) November 6, 2024
Wave after wave of people are leaving the Kamala Harris watch party in Washington DC. The crowd started out loud and enthusiastic. People are now either glued to the news broadcast or are turning around and going home.
I’m on the ground for @realdailywire: pic.twitter.com/LKMe4ipII6
— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) November 6, 2024
Here is a copy of the memo sent to staffers by the Harris-Walz campaign manager:
Although the current results seem to indicate that President Trump has indeed received the groundswell of support that many of us have been saying, and which much of the polling indicated (at least, to a degree), this is still very much a situation in flux. Media is reportedly afraid to call the race for President Trump, as there are more counts ongoing, and Kamala’s campaign is basically packing it in for the night.
The obvious concern is what happens under the cover of darkness? The eerie similarities between the current state of affairs to that of 2020 is hard to look past — even as the initial counts seem to weigh heavily in President Trump’s corner.
This is a developing situation, and we will stay on top of breaking events to bring you the latest news as it happens.
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