Despite a news conference that lasted over an hour, not a single reporter on Monday bothered to ask Barack Obama if, as the leader of the Democratic Party, he deserves any blame for Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump. Instead, the journalists badgered Obama to trash Trump.
ABC’s Martha Raddatz demanded, “Given some of the harsh words you had about Mr. Trump, calling him temperamentally unfit to be commander chief, did anything surprise you about President-elect Trump when you met with him in your office?” She added, “I want to know, does anything concern you about a Trump presidency?”
Not getting the appropriate level of outrage about the President-elect, Raddatz repeated, “Mr. President, you talked specifically about his temperament. Do you still have any concerns about his temperament?
Athena Jones of CNN asked a nearly identical question:
ATHENA JONES: You said more than once you did not believe that Donald Trump would ever be elected president and you thought he was unfit for the office. Now that you've spent time with him, sitting down and talking to him for an hour and a half in the Oval Office, do you now think that President-elect Trump is qualified to be president?
Justin Sink of Bloomberg actually goaded Obama about whether he would do anything to obstruct President Trump on immigration:
JUSTIN SINK: At least three quarters of a million undocumented immigrants provided the federal government information about themselves and their families as part of deferred action program. I’m wondering if there is anything you can do to either reassure them or shield that information from the incoming Trump administration, considering his stance on immigration?
Obama deemed this an “excellent question.”
Yet, despite the length of the press conference, there was no time available to ask about the difficult situation facing the Democratic Party and its failure to win the Senate, the House or the presidency.
More generally, the reporters could have quizzed the President on the implosion of the Democratic Party at the state leve, something that happened under his watch. As Yahoo News noted:
Despite an aggressive financial push from Democrats, Republicans cemented their dominance of the nation’s governors’ mansions in elections Tuesday, ending the night with their highest number of governorships since 1922.
The GOP flipped control of state executives in Missouri, Vermont and New Hampshire as of early Wednesday. That means the party will hold the governors’ offices in at least 33 states, up from 31. In a stunning night for Democrats on the national stage, these additional losses pushed the party further into the political wilderness in the states, where they have been struggling to compete for years.
A transcript of the questions can be found below:
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Press conference
11/14/163:41
COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON (Wall Street Journal): You are about to embark on your final foreign trip, what will you say to other world leaders about your successor? They have expressed many of the same misgivings about Donald Trump. Should they be worried about the future of U.S. foreign policy? And separately as Democrats scramble to regroup after a pretty shocking upset, what is your advice about where the party goes now and who should lead your party?
3:49
MARK KNOLLER: Mr. President, what can you tell us about the learning curve on becoming president? Can you tell us how long it took you before you were fully at ease in the job? If that ever happens? And did you discuss this matter with President-elect Trump?
3:53
KNOLLER: How long did it take before you were at ease in the job?
...
3:57
ATHENA JONES: You said more than once you did not believe that Donald Trump would ever be elected president and you thought he was unfit for the office. Now that you've spent time with him, sitting down and talking to him for an hour and a half in the Oval Office, do you now think that President-elect Trump is qualified to be president? And if I can do a compound question, the other one is, you mentioned staffing and tone. What do you say to the Americans who may not doubt that there will be a peaceful transition, but that are concerned about some of the policies and sentiments, either expressed by President-elect Trump himself or his supporters that may seem hostile to minorities and others? Specifically, I’m talking about the announcement that Steve Bannon, who is a proponent of the so-called alt-right movement, what many call the white nationals movement, is going to have a prominent role in the white house under President Trrump, as his chief strategist and senior adviser. What message does that send to the world?
4:03pm
JONES: [inaudible] – qualifications. Has that changed after meeting
4:05
SCOTT HORSLEY: Thank you Mr. President. You’re off to Europe which is facing some of the same populist pressures we see at work in this country. When you spoke at the UN, you talked about the choice we are facing between integration and building walls. What choice do you think the American people made last week and is there is still a chance of what you call a course correction before Europeans take some of their choices?
...
4:10
MARTHA RADDATZ: Given some of the harsh words you had about Mr. Trump, calling him temperamentally unfit to be commander chief, did anything surprise you about President-elect Trump when you met with him in your office? And also, I want to know, does anything concern you about a Trump presidency?
...
4:19
RADDATZ: Mr. President, you talked specifically about his temperament. Do you still have any concerns about his temperament?
4:21
NADIA BILBASSY-CHARTERS: President-elect Trump threatened to unravel the Iran nuclear deal, which your administration worked very hard to achieve. What would you say if he alters part of it would you advise he do, considering that he said he is open to your advice? And on Syria, sir, the Syrian regime now is threatening Aleppo with massive [inaudible], you talked passionately a few years aback about Benghazi and you warned against the killing of civilians there. Many people criticized your administration for the shortcoming in the Syrian [inaudible]. Are you willing to let Aleppo fall under your watch and how do you react to President-elect Trump’s statement that he won’t support the Syrian opposition? Thank you.
...
4:32JUSTIN SINK: I wanted to ask about two things that might be on your desk over the next couple months as you prepare for a Trump administration. One is that at least three quarters of a million undocumented immigrants provided the federal government information about themselves and their families as part of deferred action program. I’m wondering if there is anything you can do to either reassure them or shield that information from the incoming Trump administration, considering his stance on immigration. And the second administration and you have long maintained that legal restraints upon you by Congress governing movement of detainees from Gitmo are an unconstitutional infringement on your rights as commander in chief. Considering the gradual transfers that you pursued are unlikely to continue under a Trump administration, is this now the time to sort of test that theory by moving the detainees and seeing where the chips fall?
BARACK OBAMA: Those are both excellent questions.
