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Obama Aides Reflect on Misjudging Trump's 2016 Political Resilience
Obama aides underestimated Trump's ability to mobilize voters despite scandals and conspiracy theories, reflecting on lessons from social media's rising political influence.
- On Tuesday, the Obama oral history revealed aides' bewilderment that no mockery, dismissal, or scandal could make Donald Trump go away.
- Across the Obama years, advisers said they underestimated social media and red and blue 'team' politics, while some aides took Trump's candidacy personally as it opposed Obama administration's values.
- Among campaign episodes, aides cited the Access Hollywood tape and the birther false conspiracy, which Obama addressed by releasing his long-form birth certificate later this year.
- Internally, aides admitted `Obviously, we misread that,` after Trump won the Electoral College 306 to 232, as Simas recalled.
- Over two terms, the White House witnessed conspiracy theories survive online, while pollsters and news outlets disregarded Trump's likely victory as Americans distrusted institutions.
13 Articles
13 Articles
The Seattle Times
The Toronto StarA ‘clown’ who wouldn’t go away: Inside Obama’s team’s blind spot on Trump
Obama aides have described how they underestimated Donald Trump before his 2016 presidential run, even as his influence grew online and in politics.
A 'clown' who wouldn't go away: Inside Obama's tea
For eight years, President Barack Obama’s aides marveled that no amount of mockery, dismissal or scandal could make Donald Trump go away. Their bewilderment is threaded through hundreds of interviews with administration officials released Tuesday in a far-reaching oral history of the Obama presidency . Throughout, Obama’s advisers — some of the nation’s most accomplished political and policy experts — described their ongoing education about an e…
Associated Press News
A 'clown' who wouldn't go away: Inside Obama's team’s blind spot on Trump
Obama aides have described how they underestimated Donald Trump before his 2016 presidential run, even as his influence grew online and in politics.
Obama Didn’t See Trump Coming
New York Times: “Mr. Obama and his team never saw Mr. Trump coming, as a new set of oral history interviews released on Tuesday makes abundantly clear. He was, to them, a ‘con man,’ a ‘clown,’ a ‘laughingstock.’ He was a thorn in the side with his birther lies and demagogic bloviating.” “But as it turned out, Mr. Obama and his advisers, like many others, missed the shifting mood of the country that would ultimately upend Mr. Axelrod’s assumption…
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