The presidential election of 2016 shocked the world, but no one was more shocked than Hillary Clinton. A new book on the Clinton campaign contains the revelation that Clinton had to be pressured into conceding her loss on election night by President Barack Obama.
“POTUS doesn’t think it’s wise to drag this out,” White House political director David Simas is reported as saying to Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager.
The campaign did not concede at that point.
Later, President Obama himself called and told Clinton, “You need to concede.” The president then repeated the demand to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta shortly thereafter.
While she didn’t publicly concede on election night — she waited until morning to address supporters — The Washington Post reports the calls from Obama had the desired impact. “At last, Clinton said, ‘Give me the phone.’ And then the first woman who was going to be president got her opponent on the line and said two words she never expected to say: ‘Congratulations, Donald.’”
The calls from President Obama started after Wisconsin was called for Donald Trump. The Post reports, “President Barack Obama thought it was over and did not want a messy recount.”
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