'We did not expect this result': Trump-hating New York AG Letitia James vows to 'fight back' in wake of Trump's election win

Far-left New York Attorney General Letitia James campaigned for her office on the promise that she would go after Donald Trump — and has done so relentlessly.

In the wake of Trump's resounding presidential victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, James gave a bizarre and cryptic speech Wednesday promising repeatedly that she would "fight back" against Trump's incoming administration.

'So no matter what the next administration throws at us, we're ready. We're ready to respond to their attacks.'

While James started off congratulating Trump on his win, she immediately went negative and said "if possible" her office will work with his administration.

"But we will not compromise our values, our integrity, our principles,” James added.

It should be noted that James' delivery of her speech was dramatic to the hilt — full of whispered endings to phrases and frequent pauses, as well as clipped, halting pronunciations of key words that seemed to reflect anger, shock, and sadness over Trump's victory.

"We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result," James went on to say. "And my office has been preparing for several months because we've been here before. We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back. And we are prepared to fight back once again because as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility."

James acknowledged that her office between 2019 and 2021 took nearly 100 legal actions against Trump’s previous administration.

"We know their playbook," she added. "We know Project 2025 before it was even published. And we have been working both in my office and with other Democratic [attorneys general] across this country to make sure that we would be ready to respond to any attempt to roll back our rights.”

James — still projecting drama-filled tones — appeared to be giving the ultimate pep talk.

"So here we are," she concluded. "We studied their platforms. We've identified certain possibilities, fact patterns. We've created contingency plans. So no matter what the next administration throws at us, we're ready. We're ready to respond to their attacks. We're ready to respond to any attempts to cut or eliminate any funding to the great state of New York, as the governor outlined. So, despite what has happened on the national stage, we will continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, or retribution."

James finally brought things to an end, seemingly rallying the leftist troops with this promise: "This is not the time to be fearful, New York, but faithful and steadfast, knowing that I, as the attorney general, along with my entire team, we are guardians of the law, and we are prepared, my friends, to fight back."

You can view James' relevant remarks here after the 9:20 mark.

'Disgraceful'

Following the speech, Kerri Urbahn — Fox News' legal editor — blasted James for her words, calling it "maybe the most distasteful speech I've ever seen a government official give after someone won the American presidency, and I think it reflects exactly how Letitia James has been this entire time."

Urbahn added that James "has done everything in her power to destroy Donald Trump. She failed. Do you know how we know she failed? Because Donald Trump won decisively last night. This lawfare campaign that we have seen waged against Trump by attorneys general, by federal and state prosecutors, and doing so by twisting the law in ways they had never done before. ... They used the law against Donald Trump in ways they've never used against anyone else in their states, in this country, and the American people spoke loud and clear last night and said, 'We're done with this.' And yet for the attorney general of the state of New York to go on and give that speech just now is disgraceful."

While the Department of Justice has moved to end federal cases against Trump before he takes office in January, state cases against him — such as the civil fraud case James brought against Trump, resulting in more than $450 million in penalties against him — still hang in the balance.

Urbahn noted in regard to the state cases that "you would hope and you would think" that the states would take similar stances as the federal government. She said that Judge Juan Merchan will decide next week if immunity applies following the headline-grabbing trial earlier this year in which a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. What's more, Trump's sentencing is scheduled for the end of November.

But Urbahn cautioned Merchan, saying he should "think long and hard" about any further lawfare against Trump, given that widespread negative reaction to it was a big part of why Trump won back the White House so decisively this week.

She also said James "abused the law" against Trump and said the New York appellate court was "incredibly skeptical" of James' civil fraud case against Trump. "I think he's actually going to win that case, and I think that court has been holding that decision for after the election."

Don't forget

Readers of Blaze News likely haven't forgotten when New York City Fire Department members heckled James with boos at an official ceremony earlier this year, presumably over her anti-Trump antics. James motioned with her hands and told her apparent underlings to "simmer down" — but soon the firefighters began chanting, "Trump! Trump! Trump!" Check out the heat here.

Unbelievably, FDNY Chief of Department John Hodges in response "fired off an email to other agency honchos warning a reckoning led by the department’s Bureau of Investigation and Trials was coming over the chorus of boos and chants of 'Trump' that James received," the New York Post reported.

"BITS is investigating this, so they will figure out who the members are,” Hodges wrote in an email to FDNY leadership, according to the Post, adding that "I recommend they come forward. I have been told by the commissioner it will be better for them if they come forward, and we don’t have to hunt them down."

In addition, a U.S. District Court judge said the chanting against James wasn't about politics but about race.

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