Vice President Kamala Harris will not speak to the nation tonight, her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond announced early Wednesday morning.
“We still have votes to count … so you won’t hear from the vice president tonight,” he told the crowd at Harris’ watch party at Howard University. “She will be back here tomorrow.”
“Go H-U and go Harris,” he added.
Supporters stood on the Yard for seven hours waiting to hear from the vice president before the announcement.
The night kicked off with many in high spirits, dancing to hits like V.I.C.’s “Wobble” and waving American flags as Harris’ electoral count ticked up in reliable blue states like New York and California.
They also cheered wildly as she took an early lead in some of the critical blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Early signs showed that Harris would not triumph in the sun belt states of Georgia and North Carolina.
Other results pointed to her losing in Arizona and Nevada.
But as the blue wall state results continued to move in former President Donald Trump’s favor and eventually flipped, projection screens broadcasting CNN’s election results to the crowd had their audio cut out at least three times to lessen the blow.
Harris supporters grew quieter and there was an air of apprehension in the crowd.
Rumors spread in the crowd that Harris would not be making an address, earning comparisons from some to failed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
More than an hour before Richmond’s speech, Harris campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon had circulated an internal memo that put stock in unreported vote totals from Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
By 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, though, more cracks grew in the vaunted blue wall.
With 91% of the vote reported, the vice president trailed nearly 2.5 percentage points behind Trump in Pennsylvania.
An even wider 6.5 percentage point margin sat between Trump and Harris in Michigan with 64% of the vote counted.
Wisconsin also showed Trump with a 4.4 percentage point lead over his Democratic opponent with 88% of the vote counted.
The crowd cleared out within a half hour of Richmond’s remarks, but more than half had already left before he took the stage.
