Donald Trump won the White House Tuesday just hours after President Obama warned that failing to turn out for Hillary Clinton would be an insult to his own legacy.
Less than 12 hours before voters headed to the polls Tuesday, Obama made no bones about just how strongly he was hitching his legacy to her campaign. During a campaign stop in Michigan, the president cast voters’ decision this election as stark choice to “continue this journey of progress, or whether it all goes out the window.”
“Whatever credibility I’ve earned after eight years as president,” he told the crowd. “I am asking you to trust me on this one.”
In Michigan, he specifically boasted about what his administration has done to try to pull automobile makers from the brink of bankruptcy and get it back on track.
“I think I’ve earned some credibility here,” he repeated, while ticking off string of auto metrics showing the industry in resurgence.
Fast forward to vote returns Tuesday night, and Michigan was running nearly two points in favor of Donald Trump, leaving the entire election hanging in the balance.
In mid-September, Obama even told black voters he would consider it a “personal insult” to his legacy if black voters don’t turn out for Hillary Clinton, his chosen successor.
Addressing the Congressional Black Caucus gala nearly two months ago, Obama acknowledged that while his name wasn’t going to be on the ballot, all the “progress” that the country has made over the last eight years was at stake.
“If I hear anybody saying their vote does not matter, that it doesn’t matter who we elect — read up on your history. It matters. We’ve got to get people to vote,” Obama said. “I will consider it a personal insult — an insult to my legacy — if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good sendoff? Go vote.”
With his polls riding high in the mid-50s in the days leading up the election, Obama was clearly feeling confident about his place in history despite the rise of Donald Trump and what he called the “reality-TV-ized” election.
In many ways, Obama seemed dumbfounded that the election could be even close considering Trump’s unprecedented, often erratic, twitter-fueled approach to running for president.
“This isn’t a joke, this isn’t ‘Survivor,’ this isn’t ‘The Bachelorette,'” he said at a stop in Florida in early November. “This counts.”
During a final rally in Philadelphia, Obama even took time to gloat, rattling off a list of his accomplishments, including the creation of 15.5 million new jobs, “rising incomes,” “falling poverty,” 20 million more Americans with health insurance, and the Supreme Court decision that made gay marriage legal across the country.
“With Democrats in charge, America is stronger,” he said. “We now have the chance” to elect a president “who will build on our progress … who is smart, who is steady and who is tested.”
Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and all top Democrats knew they were rolling the dice backing Clinton and that they could end up facing a “nightmare scenario,” as some knowledgeable Democrats privately called it, where the email scandal was still dogging her up until Election Day.
But, once Biden opted not to run, Obama had little choice but to soldier through, said one Democratic campaign strategist who requested anonymity.
“From the moment he embraced her candidacy, there was no going back,” the strategist said. “In for a dime, in for a dollar.”
Even in the face of the FBI appearing to re-open its probe into Clinton’s private email server, Obama never backed away from his full-throated endorsement of Clinton.
“There is only one candidate who can continue that progress,” Obama told supporters about his accomplishments during a Clinton campaign rally in Orlando, Fla., Friday. “So I am going to work my heart out.”
