President Obama cast doubt on the continued need for the Electoral College on Friday, seizing on a popular Democratic argument that has emerged since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by millions of ballots but lost the Electoral College handily.
“The Electoral College is a vestige. It’s a carry-over from an earlier vision of how our federal government was going to work,” Obama said during his final press conference of the year.
“There are some structures in our political system as envisioned by the founders that sometimes are going to disadvantage Democrats,” he added.
Democrats have touted Clinton’s popular vote victory as proof that President-elect Trump fell far short of securing a mandate when he won 306 electoral votes last month.
The Electoral College is one excuse some Democrats have put forward while attempting to identify the factors that cost Clinton the presidency, alongside “fake news,” “white supremacy,” the FBI investigation into her private server and the Russian cyberattacks on Democratic institutions.
“I do hope that we all just take some time, take a breath, that’s certainly what I am going to advise Democrats to do,” Obama said Friday afternoon before departing for Hawaii, where he will spend the holidays with his family.
Obama also scolded the media for failing to cover Clinton “fairly” and for developing an “obsession” of the leaked emails emanating from within her campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
