Hillary Clinton delivered her concession speech in the presidential race late Wednesday morning at the New Yorker hotel, blocks from the venue planned for her victory party the night before—where, not long after 2 a.m., Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta had taken the podium to send supporters home, telling them there will still votes to count. Between then and Trump’s overnight acceptance speech, however, Clinton called her Republican opponent to concede privately. Of the president-elect, she said, “We owe him an open mind, and a chance to lead.”
Here is an excerpt of her remarks:
I know how disappointed you feel, because I feel it too. And so do tens of millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this effort. This is painful, and it will be for a long time. But I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person, or even one election. It was about the country we love and building an America that is hopeful, inclusive, and big-hearted. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. We don’t just respect that. We cherish it. It also enshrines the rule of law; the principle we are all equal in rights and dignity; freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values, too, and we must defend them.
