AFT's Weingarten: 'We saw fear and anger win.'

AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement on the outcome of the 2024 election:

“The voters have spoken. While we hoped and fought for a different outcome, we respect both their will and the peaceful transfer of power.

“At this moment, the country is more divided than ever, and our democracy is in jeopardy. Tuesday night, we saw fear and anger win.

“Over the next few weeks, there will be a lot of ‘could have, should have, would have.’ But the bottom line for most people who voted—and we saw many of them as we crisscrossed the country—was ‘who will help us improve our lives, the lives of our families and our communities?’

“We believed it was Kamala Harris; more people believed it was Donald Trump.

“At the same time, our opportunity engines—labor unions and public schools—remain popular and enduring. It means we must fight for the means and agency to secure a better life, and that public education and a growing labor movement are more important than ever. For example, while Trump won Kentucky, the ballot initiative there to destroy public schools lost.

“Many people today are devastated; many are excited. Many wonder whether the arc of the universe does bend to justice; many wonder whether our democratic institutions will hold.

“These are questions that are not knowable today, but I pray we are curious and introspective enough to understand what happened and ask how we unify the country. What binds us as Americans is far more important than what divides us.

“I do know one thing: Educators, healthcare professionals and public employees will be doing everything they can to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve. And our guiding principle will be to continue to do the work to improve people’s lives: to fight for our children’s future and the promise of America.”