Face of the Day

Kamala Harris has spoken out about her election defeat in a widely pilloried video in which she talked up her losing campaign’s record fundraising haul and urged demoralised Democrats to continue to mobilise against Donald Trump.

After weeks of silence and a brief holiday in Hawaii, the vice president appeared in a 10-minute video to thank supporters and encouraged them to remain resilient after Trump’s election victory.

“The outcome of this election, obviously, is not what we wanted,” she said. “It is not what we worked so hard for, but I am proud of the race we ran, and your role in this was critical. What we did in 107 days was unprecedented.

“You have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or any circumstance take your power from you.”

The video went viral on social media, but was widely mocked by critics noting the vice president’s tired and somewhat rattled appearance, with some going so far as to question whether she was under the influence of alcohol.

In a sentiment shared by many, TV personality Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late former Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, also called for Democrats to remove the short clip posted to the party’s X account.

“Take this down,” McCain wrote. “She’s still the sitting vice president for God’s sake – this is awful. Like really, really awful.”

Stuff