WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month's election loss to President-elect Donald Trump and urged them not to lose hope and to remain politically engaged.
Biden and Harris, along with their spouses, in remarks at the Democratic National Committee holiday reception sought to buck up key donors who the Democratic Party needs to stay committed as it tries to pick up the pieces. Republicans scored a decisive victory taking the White House and Senate while maintaining control of the House in an election where donors of all political stripes spent about $4.7 billion.
“We all get knocked down. My dad would say when you get knocked down, you just got to get up,” Biden said. “The measure of a person or a party is how fast they get back up.”
Harris, who stepped in as the party's presidential nominee after Biden ended his campaign in July following his disastrous debate performance, praised donors for putting their time — and checkbooks — into backing her and Democrats that they believed in.
Democrats, their allied super PACs and other groups raised about $2.9 billion, compared to about $1.8 billion for the Republicans. Harris noted that Democrats raised a whopping $700 million over just 700 events organized by the Democratic finance committee.
“You rallied, you opened your homes, you reached out to your friends and your family,” said Harris, who will soon begin weighing in earnest her own future and whether to make another White House run. “You put your personal capital — and by that I mean your relationships — at stake to talk with people because you care so deeply, and you connected with people and took the time to remind them of what is at stake and what was at stake.”
While Biden acknowledged the sting that Democrats continue to feel about last month's loss, he said they should take pride in what they accomplished.
The administration's signature achievements include a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., and a surge in federal environmental spending through the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022 after it cleared Congress solely with Democratic votes.
“We could never have gotten as much done as we did without you,” Biden said. “You not only contributed to the campaign, but you did something, I think, even more important. You were willing to lend your names, your reputation, your character to the effort.”
Biden said that he intended to remain engaged with party politics once he leaves office on Jan. 20. He also predicted that he expected Harris would remain a central character in the party's future.
“You’re not going anywhere kid. We aren’t letting you,” Biden said to Harris.
