An emotional Liz Hayes claimed that presidential candidate Kamala Harris could have won the election if her campaign message had been delivered as powerfully as her concession speech.

Harris vowed to keep fighting for the ideals that powered her presidential campaign in a concession speech that acknowledged President-elect Donald Trump‘s win while warning of potential dark times to come. 

Hayes, who has been covering the election for the Today Show with Karl Stefanovic, praised Harris for delivering a ‘brilliant speech’ and handling the loss with grace.

‘That gives me shivers,’ Hayes said.

‘If she was like that during the campaign, in my opinion, she would have won.

‘That was a brilliant speech. That was strong and exactly what we wanted to hear. She’s great in defeat, and it’s such a contrast.’

But Stefanovic challenged his cohost.

‘I feel actually quite nervous talking to you both right now. Respectfully, the words didn’t matter in the end, it was the actions on the ground,’ he argued. 

Stefanovic said that no amount of impressive speeches could make up for a lack of real results.

‘And you can talk as much as you want, and reflect upon and give a great speech, but if you haven’t delivered on the ground…’

However, Hayes defended Harris and said that her message didn’t resonate as strongly because Americans were more focused on every day concerns and financial pressures.

‘What [Kamala Harris] was fighting for was a little more than that and that was freedom,’ Hayes said.

‘She mentions that a lot, but freedom particularly, women hear that, and we know what we’re talking about.

‘I just wished she had given that kind of strong message and that strong speech while she was on the campaign.

‘I think we would have thought differently, like “yes, she is strong, she is capable”, but you know, that’s showbiz.’

Hayes suggested this wouldn’t be the last America heard from Harris.

‘Even in defeat, [Kamala Harris] has the ability to lift the women and young people to go there are other things that are important too.

‘She’s got something to harness. She’s not done yet and even you felt like that’s a woman with some potency.’

In her concession speech, the Democratic vice president said the battle would continue ‘in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square’.

‘While I concede the election, I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign,’ she told her supporters at her alma mater in Washington. 

‘While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,’ she told supporters, many of them in tears, at Howard University.

Harris, her voice at times wavering, pledged to continue fighting for women’s rights and against gun violence and to ‘fight for the dignity that all people deserve.’  

She said she had called Trump, congratulated him and promised to engage in a peaceful transfer of power. 

‘The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say – hear me when I say: The light of America’s promise will always burn bright,’ she said. 

‘I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people,’ Harris continued. 

‘Never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do.’ 

She went on to urge voters to stay politically active despite her election loss. 

‘Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win,’ she said.

‘Do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.’