Li, a member of the campaign’s national finance committee, shared that the party had hoped to retain at least one of the “blue wall” states in the Electoral College. However, Trump ultimately swept Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. She noted that Vice President Kamala Harris’s supporters were in “a state of shock” over the unexpected loss of key voter groups.
“The gender gap we were counting on didn’t emerge to the extent we needed, and youth, Latinos, and African Americans—many of them went over to Trump,” Li said during an appearance on Fox News’s America Reports. “There’s going to be a lot of soul-searching in the coming days. I hope we can do an honest assessment and avoid attacking those who propose solutions on how we can move forward. If we don’t acknowledge the rightward shift in America, we’re going to keep losing.”
Pre-election polling indicated that Trump’s support among Latino and Black voters had increased significantly compared to past cycles, surpassing Harris’s support from these demographics. The former president also engaged with younger voters through several podcast interviews, particularly targeting Gen Z male voters.
Reflecting on the election results, Li suggested that Harris may have made an error in choosing Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, suggesting instead that Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) could have been a more impactful choice. As a Pennsylvania resident, she admitted a personal bias but argued that Shapiro, a centrist governor popular in his state, “could have made a huge difference.”
Li also pointed to Harris’s recent interview on The View, where the vice president said she would not change anything about her and President Joe Biden’s leadership over the past four years. Li felt this statement “heard ‘round the world” harmed Harris’s image as a change candidate at a time when voters were “dying for difference” from the Biden administration.
Trump’s victory in the 2024 election was finalized Wednesday morning after he secured Wisconsin in the Electoral College, reclaiming several swing states he lost in 2020. Following this outcome, Vice President Harris called President-elect Trump to formally concede the race.
